Overview
- On Monday, August 24, 2026, Jimmy Kimmel and his wife Molly McNearney told Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast they had to explain to their children that the president “hates” Kimmel after helicopters and reporters converged on the family home.
- They said the episode left their children viewing the president as a cartoonish villain and that 12‑year‑old daughter Jane worried she would someday inherit her parents’ ABC show.
- Kimmel said he is now less inclined to retire because he views his show as an outlet for people who are outraged and feels a responsibility to keep speaking to that audience.
- McNearney, who is co‑head writer and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, said she is torn about retirement because she wants household calm but also values Kimmel’s voice on the show.
- The couple’s on‑air revelations came with the longer backdrop that ABC suspended Kimmel’s show for six days in September 2025 after his comments about Charlie Kirk’s killing, a move criticized by FCC Chair Brendan Carr and publicly praised by the president, and that Disney later challenged the FCC’s early review of its local broadcast licences.