Jimmy Kimmel Live! cancelled? ABC breaks silence after report raises questions over show’s future

ABC has pushed back against reports that Jimmy Kimmel Live! is heading for the exit, dismissing claims that the network has already decided not to extend Jimmy Kimmel’s contract beyond 2027.

ABC clarifies the future of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The denial came after Page Six reported on Tuesday that ABC did not plan to renew Kimmel’s contract and that the comedian’s long-running late-night show could end in May 2027, after more than two decades on air.

But an ABC Entertainment spokesperson told The Hill, “This information is inaccurate — any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative.”

The response leaves the future of Jimmy Kimmel Live! unresolved, but it directly contradicts the suggestion that ABC has already settled on an end date for the programme. Kimmel’s current contract runs through 2027, according to reports, while ABC has maintained that it has not decided what comes after that.

The speculation has gained particular attention because of Kimmel’s increasingly public and bitter relationship with President Donald Trump

Kimmel has been one of Trump’s most persistent late-night critics, regularly turning the president’s speeches, social media posts and political controversies into material for his monologues. Trump, in return, has repeatedly attacked Kimmel and other late-night hosts, often questioning their ratings and calling for television networks to take action against programming he considers hostile to him.

The feud became especially significant during Trump’s second term, as criticism of broadcasters and comedians increasingly moved beyond the usual exchange of political insults.

When ABC temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live!

In September 2025, ABC temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! following controversy over comments Kimmel made in connection with the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The suspension came after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr warned broadcasters about the programme.

At the same time, major station groups Nexstar and Sinclair subsequently declined to immediately resume carrying it on some ABC affiliates even after ABC announced the show would return.

The episode intensified concerns among Kimmel’s supporters that political pressure could affect the future of late-night television. Those concerns have resurfaced as the industry itself undergoes a dramatic contraction.

US President Donald Trump and his feud with late night show hosts

Trump has also publicly celebrated the downfall of late-night hosts who have frequently criticised him. When CBS moved to end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Trump welcomed the decision and publicly suggested that Kimmel could be next.

Colbert’s programme ultimately aired its final episode on May 21, 2026, bringing his 11-year tenure as host to an end and closing a chapter in the wider Late Show franchise that began with David Letterman in 1993. CBS maintained that its decision was financial rather than political, although the timing of the cancellation fuelled widespread speculation.

Kimmel’s name has also surfaced in a broader dispute involving Trump, ABC and the FCC. Disney, ABC’s parent company, has challenged an early FCC review of licences for several ABC television stations, arguing that the move raises serious free speech concerns. The dispute followed repeated criticism from Trump of ABC’s programming, including demands that the network take action against Kimmel.

For now, however ABC is drawing a clear line between speculation and fact.

There is no confirmed cancellation, no announced final season, and despite the long-running war of words between Kimmel and Trump, ABC says reports claiming to know the programme’s fate beyond 2027 are premature.