Jimmy Kimmel ended his last broadcast of 2025 by speaking candidly to his audience, calling the past year one of the most difficult periods he’s ever experienced.
Addressing viewers during Thursday night’s opening, Jimmy Kimmel acknowledged the emotional toll the year had taken.
‘This has been a strange year. It’s been a hard year,’ Jimmy Kimmel said during Thursday night’s monologue. ‘We’ve had some lows, we’ve had some highs. For me, maybe more than any year of my life.’
The late-night host thanked fans for their unwavering support, crediting them with helping him through a turbulent season.
‘I just want to say that we appreciate your support, your enthusiasm, and not just for watching. This year, you literally pulled us out of a hole, and we cannot thank you enough personally.’
He continued: ‘I know there are a lot harder jobs, but this is not an easy job to do, and sometimes it feels like we’re spinning our wheels. You see so many awful and destructive acts, all this damage we inflict on ourselves on purpose, and it can make you feel crazy trying to wrap your head around these things that are so clearly wrong.’
Jimmy Kimmel has unabashedly spoken out against Donald Trump, using his platform to criticize the president’s policies, rhetoric, and character, leading to a long-standing rivalry.
That instability stemmed from ABC briefly pulling the program in September after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, warned the network its license could be at risk because of Kimmel’s content.
Kimmel’s wife and head writer, Molly McNearney, had previously admitted that she and her husband had thought his career was effectively over.
‘I watched a show, co-workers, friends and the man I love be put on “indefinite suspension” after our thin-skinned president asked for his removal and his FCC chair publicly threatened the company we work for. It is a fragile time for freedom,” McNearney said at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women In Entertainment brunch.
The move sparked widespread backlash, calling into question First Amendment protections and whether or not the government was pressuring private networks to suppress speech.
The show was reinstated the following week, with Kimmel securing a one-year contract extension, which would keep him on the show through May 2027.
Beyond professional challenges, Kimmel reflected on profound personal loss.
In November, Kimmel delivered an emotional tribute to his best friend and longtime band leader Cleto Escobedo III, who died from liver transplant complications.
Earlier in the year, he also spoke emotionally about the wildfires that devastated large parts of Los Angeles.
Kimmel said the broader national mood added to the strain of the year, noting how deeply political and social turmoil affected him – but late-night comedy is what helped him persevere.
‘You know, you grew up reading Superman, and you learn to value truth, justice and the American way, and then you start to realize, especially over the last year, you don’t know where that all went. You don’t know the what the American way even is anymore,’ Kimmel said.
‘But when I hear from people who tell me that they watch our show, and the shows that my friends and colleagues do on the other channels, and that it makes them feel less crazy, it makes me feel less crazy too.’
He ended with a message of solidarity beyond U.S. borders: ‘I also think it’s important that we as Americans let our friends in other countries who watch the show on YouTube, on Instagram, Hulu, wherever, know that a lot of us are not okay with what is happening,’ he said.
‘There is still much more good in this country than bad, and we hope that you will bear with us during this extended psychotic episode that we’re in the middle of.’