Jimmy Kimmel jokingly braced for a "round-up" of talk show hosts when President Donald Trump was re-elected in 2024.

On Sept. 17, Walt Disney owned ABC announced it had indefinitely pulled "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" off the air following his comments about Republicans' reaction to Charlie Kirk's death. Trump applauded the move, calling for the cancelation of more late night shows whose hosts are often critical of the president.

Kimmel had yet to speak out publicly about the news as of the morning of Sept. 19, but his on-air reaction to the 2024 presidential election results nearly foreshadowed this moment.

"My only request to President-elect Trump is that he let me share a prison cell with Taylor Swift. I'm really good at making bracelets and I think we'd get along just fine," he said in the Nov. 6 episode monologue. "We'll see how funny that is in six months, when the great talk-show-host roundup begins."

It was about eight months later CBS announced Stephen Colbert's show would be cancelled and about 10 months later ABC pulled Kimmel's show.

Kimmel called election night 'a terrible night'

"He said he has a list of enemies. You think I'm not on that list?" he told his sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez as he joked about leaving the country in a clip ahead of his monologue.

Kimmel got choked up as he recounted election night in front of his audience.

"It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hardworking immigrants who make this country go, for health care, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech," he said. "It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on Social Security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO, for the truth and democracy and decency."

He also said it was a terrible night for those who voted for Trump, "you just don't realize it yet."

Trying to find a silver lining, Kimmel said, "we've been through this once before" referring to Trump's first term. "And yes, this time it is probably going to be worse, maybe a lot worse. But I also think that maybe we will look back and realize that, in the long run, this is what we needed to wake us up. Maybe the people who care so much about him need to find out how little he cares about them."

Kimmel also poked a bit of fun at former President Joe Biden in his remarks.

What did Trump say about Jimmy Kimmel's show cancellation?

Trump posted on Truth Social in response to the news about the show, calling it "great news for America."

"Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," the post wrote. "Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!"

CBS announced in July it was canceling "The Late Show" with Colbert in May 2026. The network said it was a financial decision, though other late-night hosts and critics have been skeptical of that reasoning, given Colbert's criticism of Trump.

Jimmy Fallon joked on his show after the 2024 election, "America decided to get back with a crazy ex." His contract with NBCUniversal is up in 2028. Seth Meyers is also a frequent critic of Trump and his "Late Night with Seth Meyers" contract is up in 2028.

Trump also addressed the news at a press conference in the United Kingdom on Sept. 18:

"Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings, more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk," Trump said. "Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. You can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent."

Kimmel's ratings are second-highest among late-night hosts after Colbert, but late-night TV ratings are down overall as a genre.

What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Trump and Charlie Kirk?

During his opening monologue on Monday, Sept. 15, Kimmel said the following:

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was, uh, grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this."

The clip then shows a video of Trump talking to reporters. He was asked how he was doing, personally, following the death of his ally Kirk. Trump responded, "I think very good," before diverting attention to construction of the White House ballroom Trump is having built.

Kimmel continues after the clip of Trump:

"Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief: construction. Demolition, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend; this is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK? And it didn't just happen once,"

Kimmel played another clip of Trump talking on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," saying he was meeting with the ballroom's architects when he found out Kirk was shot.

"And then we installed the most beautiful chandelier...you, sconces you wouldn't believe. There's something wrong with him, there really is. I mean, who thinks like that, and why are we building a $200 million ballroom in the White House? Is it possible that he's doing it intentionally so he can be bad about that instead of the (Jeffrey) Epstein list? …"

Trump has targeted, sued media companies in second term

Trump has long decried the news media as "fake news," and has continued legal attacks on major media outlets since winning the White House back. But he has long filed lawsuits against the media that do not amount to anything. In one case, a judge ordered Trump to pay more than $392,000 in legal fees to the New York Times over a frivolous lawsuit.

Here are some other recent lawsuits against media companies:

  • New York Times - Trump announced on Sept. 15 a defamation and libel lawsuit against the New York Times for $15 billion. The lawsuit filed in Florida cites a series of articles, an editorial and a book published by Penguin Random House that Trump's lawyers say are part of an "intentional and malicious defamation against President Trump," the court filing shows.
  • Wall Street Journal - Trump sued Dow Jones & Co., News Corp., owner Rupert Murdoch and reporters Khadeeja Safdar and Joseph Palazzolo after the outlet published a story about a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that appeared to be signed by Trump. Trump called it "false, malicious, and defamatory." The House Oversight Committee later released the letter, though the White House said it would still pursue legal action. The Wall Street Journal said it stood by its reporting and would fight the lawsuit. Trump sued the Journal for $10 billion.
  • CBS News - Trump sued CBS News in October 2024 for $10 billion (later bumped up to $20 billion) over edits to a “60 Minutes” interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris. Parent company Paramount settled the lawsuit for $16 million in July, according to Reuters.
  • ABC News - In March 2024, Trump sued ABC News and host George Stephanopoulos over questions about E. Jean Carroll, whom juries found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming. ABC News settled the case for $15 million in December, according to Reuters.
  • Des Moines Register - Trump sued the Des Moines Register (a USA TODAY Network newspaper), parent company Gannett and pollster J. Ann Selzer in December 2024 after a poll released shortly before the election overstated Iowa's support for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 race for president. The parties have squabbled over the lawsuit's jurisdiction for months. Both Gannett and Selzer have moved to dismiss Trump's lawsuit. The lawsuit asked for unspecified damages under Iowa's Consumer Fraud Act.

Contributing: Joey Garrison, Anthony Robledo, Brendan Morrow, KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY

Kinsey Crowley is the Trump Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at kcrowley@gannett.com. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'When the great talk show host roundup begins:' Kimmel braced for impact when Trump won

Reporting by Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY NETWORK / USA TODAY

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