The host of the “Strike Force Five” podcast revealed in the first episode that he was prepared to leave his late-night talk show before the WGA strike ended the ABC program.
Jimmy Kimmel stated he was ready to hang up his late-night host hat before the Writers Guild went on strike, but he has now changed his mind.
He said,
“I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started, and now, I realize, oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work. You know when you are working, you think about not working.”
The news was revealed by the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the first episode of the exclusive Spotify podcast Strike Force Five, which also features Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and Seth Meyers.
Meyers proceeded to question his fellow late-night TV host: “Kimmel, c’mon, you are the Tom Brady of late night…you have feigned retirement…. Are we to take you at your word?” Kimmel, on the other hand, doubled down, stating, “I was serious, I was very, very serious.” He went on to say that he enjoys taking the summer off from his program every year, but he enjoys it even more when he’s “getting paid to take the summer off.”
Since he signed to a three-year extension of his Emmy-nominated ABC show last year, which would have brought it through its 23rd season, it would have been difficult for Kimmel to resign before the strike was called. The host then jokingly said in a statement, “After two decades at ABC, I am now looking forward to three years of what they call ‘quiet quitting.’”
The five late-night hosts introduced the brand-new podcast on Wednesday, saying it would help workers who were affected by the ongoing strikes. All five of the podcast’s hosts will contribute to its minimum of 12 episodes.
Kimmel explained on the podcast, adding,
“The reason we’re doing this is because we’re financially supporting members of our staff, Everyone that works on a TV show is out of work right now, and so all the money that we make on this show goes to them.”
