Jimmy Kimmel is breaking down exactly what happened behind the scenes when he was pulled from the air!
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host joined his fellow comedian Stephen Colbert on his Late Show on Wednesday night to discuss the “strange” and “emotional rollercoaster” he’s been on lately.
As Perezcious readers know, Jimmy was “indefinitely” pulled from the air two weeks ago after making controversial comments about conservatives’ reactions to Charlie Kirk‘s death, upsetting some distributors and, especially, President Donald Trump. ABC put him on suspension, but ultimately changed their mind and brought him back six days later.
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During the Late Show, the 57-year-old asked if Stephen wanted “to hear the whole thing” before launching into a play-by-play. He was busy prepping for to tape a show when he got an unexpected call, he remembered:
“It was around 3 o’clock, we tape our show at 4:30. I’m in my office typing away — as I usually do. I get a phone call. It’s ABC. They say they want to talk to me. This is unusual. As far as I knew, they didn’t even know I was doing a show previous to this.”
Hilariously, he snuck off to the most unusual of places for the serious call, he pointed out:
“I have, like, five people who work in my office with me, so the only private place to go is the bathroom.
Hah!
Jimmy continued:
“So I got into the bathroom and I’m on the phone with the ABC executives. They say, ‘Listen, we want to take the temperature down. We’re concerned about what you’re going to say tonight, and we’ve decided that the best route is to take the show off the air.’”
The audience booed, prompting Kimmel to tease:
“That’s what I said. I started booing.”
Jimmy told the execs he didn’t think it was “a good idea” to take him off the air, but they voted and he lost. Oof. Jimmy then gathered about nine executive producers into his office to break the news, noting his wife, Molly McNearney, who is a writer and producer on the late-night series, said he looked white. Jimmy reflected:
“I thought, that’s it. It’s over, it’s over. I was like, I’m never coming back on the air.”
Meanwhile, audience members were “already in their seats” waiting for the show to go on! Chef Christian Petroni had been preparing meatballs and polenta all day for everyone, and the musical guest, Howard Jones, was ready to film his performance. The show was literally about to go on!
He let the fans go, but had his staff step in to act as the audience while they still taped Howard’s performance. He ended up singing Things Can Only Get Better. The staff then ate the chef’s food before leaving, while Jimmy stayed back for a few hours trying to figure things out. When he finally headed home, it was madness:
“I’m followed by 20 paparazzi cars, TMZ, people jumping in front of me on the way home. We’re just trying to get to the house. … There were two helicopters flying over.”
His whole family was understandably rattled by the situation — and his daughter Jane said the sweetest thing to him! He shared:
“We get to the house and we’re shaken. The kids are up — our daughter is 11 years old and says, ‘I can sell my Labubus.’ It was very sweet. Our son just got naked and started running around the house.”
Aw!
The next few days felt like “jail” as the jokester had to remain quiet in public while making tons of calls in private to figure the situation out (he also heard from lots of friends and supporters). Thankfully, it all worked out and he’s back on air to massive ratings. But what a ride it was!
Hear more, including his candid thoughts on POTUS (below):
Thoughts?
[Image via CBS/YouTube & MEGA/WENN]
The post ‘Shaken’ Jimmy Kimmel Breaks Down EXACTLY What Happened Behind The Scenes When Show Was Pulled! appeared first on Perez Hilton.
