Jimmy Kimmel was asked in a new Rolling Stone interview about what is acceptable in comedy today, which prompted the ABC late-night host to say that increasingly attacking what comedians can or can’t say is one of the reasons Donald Trump is president again.
“I don’t put limits on what I laugh at,” Kimmel said. “But for me personally, as I’ve grown older, as I’ve matured, I won’t make a joke that I wouldn’t make if a person of that color or persuasion was in the room. That’s how I look at it. I think a lot of the outrage is completely manufactured, and it’s like, a lot of these people who are angry aren’t really angry. I think these liberals who’ve done such a good job of viciously attacking comedians are a big part of the reason why Trump is the president right now.”
Asked to clarify what he meant, Kimmel continued, “I just think human beings in general, when you see something that makes you laugh and you see a bunch of other people laughing, and then somebody steps in with their arms folded and goes, ‘That’s not funny, and here’s why that’s not funny,’ it just doesn’t give you a good feeling about a person. And you want to say to that person, ‘Lighten up.’ There’s no black and white when it comes to comedy. There is no line. The line is different for every person. Dave Chappelle can say things that somebody else might not be able to. I don’t think anybody should be canceled. I really don’t.”
Kimmel is one of Hollywood’s most outspoken critics of Trump, often using his late-night monologues to eviscerate the president’s behavior and lawmaking. Rolling Stone ran a story in 2023 that reported the Trump administration allegedly called ABC’s parent company Disney over Kimmel’s Trump jokes. The White House reportedly wanted Disney to rein in Kimmel.
“I think it’s funny,” Kimmel now reacted to the report. “I like when he admits I’m bothering him. Here at the show, where we put a lot of work into lampooning him, for him to acknowledge our work is one of the few things he does that I appreciate. If he ignored us, it wouldn’t be as much fun.”
Kimmel admitted that part of the reason he refuses to let up on Trump jokes is because he is still shocked America elected him in the first place.
“It was 2016, and I had Hillary Clinton on,” he remembered. “I said to Hillary during a commercial break, ‘I hope Trump gets the nomination. I think he’ll be a slam-dunk for you.’ And she said, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ I’m not in the group of people who thought he might win. Listen, when O.J. was found not guilty, I was just absolutely shocked. I had that same feeling. I had this faith in America that was shaken, and I still am not over it. I thought that when it comes down to it, this country, we do the right thing. That’s obviously in the past.”
Head over to Rolling Stone’s website to read Kimmel’s latest interview in its entirety.
