Jimmy Kimmel won the best talk show prize at the Critics Choice Awards and used his acceptance speech to roast Donald Trump and thank all of the celebrities who rallied behind him earlier this year after ABC pulled his late night show off the air after two large owners of affiliate TV stations, Nexstar and Sinclair, complained about a monologue in which Kimmel discussed Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter.
“Thanks to all the writers and actors and producers and union members, many of you who are in this room, who supported us, who really stepped forward us and reminded us that we do not take free speech for granted in this city or in this country,” Kimmel said on Jan. 4. “Your actions were important, and we appreciate them.”
“And most of all, I want to thank our president, Donald Jennifer Trump, without whom, we would be going home empty-handed tonight,” Kimmel added. “So thank you, Mr. President, for all the many ridiculous things you do each and every day. It’s been a banner couple of weeks, and we can’t get wait to get back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them. Thank you, everyone.”
Variety reported last month that Kimmel struck a new deal with Disney to extend his late-night run for another year, which will keep “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on the air through 2027. Kimmel regularly slams Trump during his nightly monologues. The host recently condemned the President’s response to the murder of filmmaker Rob Reiner, who Trump called “deranged” and speculated that his death was “due to the anger” he caused others by being anti-Trump.
“What we need at a time like this, besides common sense when it comes to guns and mental health care, is compassion and leadership. We did not get that from our president, because he has none of it to give. Instead, we got a fool rambling about nonsense,” Kimmel said at the time. “It’s so hateful and vile. When I first saw it, I thought it was fake. My wife showed it to me this morning. I was like, ‘Even for him, that seemed like too much.’ But nothing is ever too much for him.”
Kimmel also called out Trump in a special Christmas Day address to the U.K. on Channel 4, where he remembered how “millions and millions of people stood up” when ABC pulled his show off the air, “and said: ‘No, this is not acceptable’. People who never watched my show, people who were on record saying they hate my show spoke out, they marched, they did this all to support the right to a free expression of speech and because so many people spoke out, we came back. Our show came back stronger than ever.”
“We won, the President lost and now I’m back on the air every night givin’ the most powerful politician on earth a right and richly deserved bollocking. That’s a word, right? I used it properly?” Kimmel added.
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From Variety US