Jimmy Kimmel Gets Real About Loss And Late-Night Survival

Jimmy Kimmel closed out the yr with raw emotion, turning his final monologue into a mirrored image on grief, pressure, politics, and perseverance.

What began as a late-night comedy show became something way more personal because the host looked back on a turbulent stretch that tested his profession, his faith in institutions, and his ability to maintain happening television today.

The ultimate recent episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in 2025 was never going to be just one other night of jokes.

From the moment Kimmel stepped onto the stage, it was clear something was different.

His voice cracked, his eyes welled, and the familiar rhythm of late-night comedy gave approach to reflection.

“This has been an odd yr. It’s been a tough yr,” Kimmel said. “We’ve had some lows. We’ve had some highs. For me, perhaps greater than any yr of my life.”

The past yr brought a convergence of skilled turmoil and private loss.

Kimmel faced public attacks, corporate uncertainty, and the sudden death of Cleto Escobedo, the show’s bandleader and his longtime friend.

Somewhat than deflecting with humor, he allowed the audience to take a seat with the load of all of it, acknowledging how deeply the yr had affected him.

Because the monologue continued, Kimmel shifted his focus from hardship to gratitude.

Speaking on to the audience, each within the studio and watching at home, he made it clear that their support had not gone unnoticed in the course of the show’s darkest moments.

“On behalf of all of us on the show, I just wish to say that we appreciate your support, your enthusiasm, and never only for watching this yr, you literally pulled us out of a hole, and we cannot thank you sufficient,” Kimmel told the audience.

He added, “I do know there are rather a lot harder jobs, but this just isn’t a simple job to do, and sometimes it appears 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 will probably make you’re feeling crazy attempting to wrap your head around these items which might be so clearly flawed.”

Behind the scenes, the uncertainty was much more intense.

After ABC’s parent company, Disney, suspended Jimmy Kimmel amid political pressure and threats of local preemption, the show’s future appeared bleak.

Kimmel and his wife, head author Molly McNearney, privately believed the suspension might mark the tip of his run on the network.

McNearney later spoke about that period with blunt honesty. “I watched a show, co-workers, friends, and the person I really like be placed on ‘indefinite suspension’ after our thin-skinned president asked for his removal and his FCC chair publicly threatened the corporate we work for. It’s a fragile time for freedom,” she said at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women In Entertainment brunch.

The show ultimately returned, and ABC signed Kimmel to a brand new one-year deal extending his presence in late-night through not less than May 2027.

Nonetheless, the experience left scars, reinforcing how precarious creative expression can feel during politically charged times.

Politics took on a more somber tone as Kimmel addressed the broader cultural moment.

He reflected on how foundational ideas he grew up believing in now feel uncertain.

“, you grew up reading Superman, and also you learn to value truth, justice, and the American way, and you then start to understand, especially during the last yr, you don’t know where that every one went. You don’t know what the American way even is anymore,” Kimmel said.

He added, “But once I hear from individuals who tell me that they watch our show and the shows that my friends and colleagues do on the opposite channels, and that it makes them feel less crazy. It makes me feel less crazy too, and I feel that’s a vital thing.”

The sentiment captured why late-night television has turn out to be greater than escapism for a lot of viewers.

For Kimmel, the show has turn out to be a spot to process confusion and reaffirm shared values, even when those values feel under threat.

Within the closing moments of the monologue, Jimmy Kimmel widened his lens beyond American borders, addressing international viewers who eat the show online.

His message was part reassurance, part apology, and part plea for patience.

“I also think it’s necessary that we as Americans let our friends in other countries who watch the show on YouTube, on Instagram, Hulu, wherever, know that a variety of us are usually not okay with what is occurring,” he continued. “There remains to be far more good on this country than bad, and we hope that you’ll bear with us during this prolonged psychotic episode that we’re in the course of.”

It was an unusually candid approach to end the yr, mixing humor, exhaustion, and hope.

For Jimmy Kimmel, the yr’s final show wasn’t only a sign-off but a reminder that even in late-night, honesty can sometimes be the strongest punchline.