Jimmy Kimmel Shares The Minute-By-Minute Details Of Fin… — Transcript

Jimmy Kimmel recounts the emotional moment ABC suspended his show and shares behind-the-scenes details on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Key Takeaways

The suspension was unexpected and emotionally challenging for Jimmy Kimmel.
Behind-the-scenes details reveal the complexity of live TV production during crises.
Support from friends, family, and celebrities played a crucial role in Kimmel's recovery.
Humor and resilience helped Kimmel cope with the situation.
The interview provides rare insight into the pressures faced by late-night hosts.

Summary

Jimmy Kimmel discusses the shock of being indefinitely suspended by ABC on September 17th.
He describes receiving the call from ABC executives and learning the show was being taken off the air.
Kimmel shares the emotional impact and initial thoughts that his career was over.
Details about the taping day, including the presence of a live audience and guest chef Christian Petroni.
Howard Jones performed 'Things Can Only Get Better' despite the suspension.
Kimmel recounts being followed by paparazzi and the media frenzy on his way home.
He shares personal moments with his family reacting to the news.
Kimmel compares the suspension experience to a silent jail, making many phone calls without speaking publicly.
He talks about receiving supportive texts from various celebrities and acquaintances, including James Taylor and the Pope.
The interview highlights the camaraderie and humor shared between Kimmel and Stephen Colbert.

Chapters

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Stephen: Give it up for Louis Cato and "The Late Show" band, everybody. There you go! [Cheers and applause] You know what, Louis? Here's the thing, here's the thing about doing one of the shows, such a privilege so few people know what it's like

Speaker A

to do one of the shows on a nightly basis for the privilege of it, the grind of it. I'm happy to say, ladies and gentlemen, my first guest tonight knows what it's like. He's a very funny comedian who is the host of "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

Speaker A

Please welcome back to "The Late Show," my friend, Jimmy Kimmel! [Cheers and applause] ♪ ♪

Speaker B

Jimmy: Hi.

Speaker C

Stephen: Thanks for being here.

Speaker C

Jimmy: Thank you for having me. I'm so honored to be here with my fellow no-talent late-night loser. Great to stick together.

Speaker C

Stephen: We are honored here because this is the first interview you've done since September 17th when you found out that you have been indefinitely suspended. [Booing] Thankfully, and as you said, you got back on the air with later,

Speaker D

and I'm curious. Have you recovered from the emotional roller coaster yet?

Speaker E

Jimmy: It was an emotional roller coaster. You hear that a lot. It really was. It was very strange. Do you want to hear the whole thing?

Speaker F

Stephen: Of course. How did you find out?

Speaker F

Jimmy: It was about 3:00. 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

Speaker F

previous to this. So I have a lot of people, I have five people who work in my office with me, so the only private place to go is the bathroom. So I go into the bathroom. I'm on the phone with ABC executives and they say, "Listen, we want to

Speaker F

take the temperature down. We are concerned about what you're going to say tonight. We've decided that the best route is to take the show off the air." [Booing] That's what I said. I started booing. I said, "I don't think that's a good idea," and

Speaker F

they said, "Well, we think it's a good idea." And then there was a vote and I lost the vote. So I put my pants back on. [Laughter] And I walked out to my office and I called in some of the

Speaker A

executive producers. There are about nine people in there and I said, "They're pulling this off the air." My wife said I was white — I was whiter than Jim Gaffigan when I came out of there.

Speaker B

Stephen: What's the first thing that occurred to you?

Speaker B

Jimmy: I thought, "That's it, it's over. It is over. I'm never coming back on the air." That's really what I thought. So we told our staff. Meanwhile, the whole audience — for they are in their seats. Sue and I didn't know your audience was already

Speaker C

loaded.

Speaker C

Jimmy: They are loaded and in their seats ready for the show. We had a chef, a guy named Christian Petroni on the show. He was making meatballs and polenta that night. He had been all day. Then we had — Howard Jones was

Speaker D

taping a performance.

Speaker E

Stephen: Howard Jones? Like no one ever is to blame, that guy?

Speaker E

Jimmy: Yes, but there was someone to blame in this case. Funny you mention that because the song he was doing was — the song he did do because we decided to tape it anyway even though we sent the audience

Speaker F

home, in front of our disappointed employees, "Things Can Only Get Better," which you could take two ways.

Speaker A

Stephen: Exactly.

Speaker A

Jimmy: So then we sent the audience home. We needed the staff to go in and listen to Howard Jones and pretend to be the audience. The staff went and ate polenta and meatballs after.

Speaker B

Stephen: You don't have jobs but there's plenty of wet cornmeal. There you go.

Speaker C

Jimmy: Might as well eat while we still can.

Speaker D

Stephen: Put it in your pocket.

Speaker D

Jimmy: I go home. I stayed at the show for a couple hours and I go home. I am 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. She

Speaker D

would be going to our house? There's two helicopters flying over — two helicopters! I didn't have makeup on so my bald spot was not painted in. This was something I did not want America to see. We get to the house. We are shaken. The kids

Speaker E

are up. I've got two kids. Our daughter is 11 years old, says, "I can sell my labbus." It was very sweet. Our son just got naked and started running around the house.

Speaker F

Stephen: Also lovely.

Speaker F

Jimmy: Then it was like a DUI in L.A., three days in jail where I couldn't say anything. I just had to sit quiet and make a lot of phone calls and take a lot of phone calls. You are very kind to call me. [Applause] We spoke about

Speaker A

this. Certainly you know well.

Speaker A

Stephen: Who was the most unusual person you got a text from? I got some fun ones. I got my high school girlfriend. I gave my phone to Evie and I said, as soon as I was canceled, I heard from the strike force

Speaker A

people and I heard from Jon Stewart and I handed my phone to Evie and I said don't get this back to me for several days.

Speaker A

When I finally went through it: high school girlfriend, James Taylor, George R.R. Martin. He sent me "The Winds of Winter."

Speaker B

Jimmy: That's nice. I did not have a girlfriend in high school, so I didn't hear from her. [Laughs] I did hear from a

Speaker C

girl I would have liked to have been my girlfriend in high school. I heard from the usual. The Pope.

Speaker C

Stephen: Solid guy. He's a solid guy.

Speaker D

Jimmy: I did hear from literally everyone I have ever met. I heard from the guy who picked me up at the airport in Nashville 15 years ago. I heard from a lot of people, guests on the show. I got a beautiful note from James

Speaker E

Taylor. I would love to compare those.

Speaker F

Stephen: Did you really?

Speaker A

Jimmy: I did. I want to see if he did a cut and paste on us.

Speaker B

Stephen: Can we get our phones?

Speaker C

Jimmy: I have to say probably the most beautiful text I got was from James Taylor.

Topics:Jimmy KimmelStephen Colbertlate night talk showABC suspensionJimmy Kimmel Livebehind the scenesemotional roller coasterHoward Jonescelebrity textsmedia frenzy

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Jimmy Kimmel find out about his show's suspension?

Jimmy Kimmel received a phone call from ABC executives around 3:00 PM, just before his show taped, informing him that they decided to take his show off the air due to concerns about what he might say.

What was Jimmy Kimmel's initial reaction to the suspension?

He thought it was over and believed he would never come back on the air, feeling shocked and emotionally overwhelmed.

Did Jimmy Kimmel receive support after the suspension news?

Yes, he received texts and notes from many people including celebrities like James Taylor, the Pope, and even acquaintances from his past, which he found very comforting.

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