State Champ Radio Jimmy Kimmel Live
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On the same day in which he accused six Democratic lawmakers of “seditious behavior” that he said was “punishable by death” and shared someone else’s post that called for the Congress members’ hanging, Donald Trump once again lashed out at his late night nemesis Jimmy Kimmel.
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It started with Trump’s Truth Social post on Thursday (Nov. 20) in which he asked why “ABC Fake News” keeps Kimmel, “a man with NO TALENT and VERY POOR TELEVISION RATINGS, on the air?,” claiming the network’s (or Kimmel’s?) coverage of him is “totally biased.” He ended by demanding, “Get the bum of the air!!!”
The president, ensnared in particularly bruising media cycle whipped up by the back-and-forth over the release of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein — in which Trump is named more than 1,500 times, more than anyone else — appeared to be spun up again about Kimmel’s relentless jokes about the two men’s close ties.
So, on Thursday night’s show Kimmel doubled-down once again, sloughing off the latest attack from the leader of the free world on his late night comedy show. Kimmel opened his monologue by admitting that he’s “lost count” at this point of how many times Trump has called for him to be pulled off the air, revealing that he woke up that morning to his wife telling him that he was on Trump’s mind again.
“She’s got her phone. She goes, ‘Um, Trump tweeted you should be fired again,’” Kimmel said she told him. “I was like, ‘Oh.’ And then I went downstairs and made bagels for the kids… Talk about a snowflake, this guy. Every five weeks, he flips out and wants me fired. If you got this many threats from a neighbor, you’d have no problem getting a restraining order. The judge would be like, ‘Yeah, sounds like the guy’s nuts.’”
Kimmel read the president’s post to boos from the audience, noting that the late night missive went up at 12:49 a.m., just 11 minutes after his show ended on the East Coast. “Which is nice, he watches us live. Hi, Mr. President! How are you? Thanks for watching us on TV instead of on YouTube, we appreciate that. And I’ll tell you, it’s viewers like you who keep us on the air, ironically,” he joked.
And then Kimmel likely heaped more fuel to Trump’s fire by saying, “It’s also sweet that, even in the middle of the biggest sex scandal in the history of the American presidency, he takes precious time on the toilet to post about our show. Keeps saying we have bad ratings. And you should listen to him, because if anyone knows about bad ratings, it’s that guy,” he added, before rolling out a montage of clips with reports about Trump’s plunging polling numbers.
Trump’s latest broadside against Kimmel comes after ABC’s decision in September to pull Kimmel off the air for a few days after Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, issued a warning to stations carrying the show following criticism about Kimmel’s comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Back on the air the next week, Kimmel continued tweaking the president in his nightly monologues and it appears to have again incensed Trump, who has also called for other late night hosts to be fired in seeming pique over their jabs at his administration.
Kimmel pulled not punches again on Thursday, laying down the gauntlet, saying, “Mr. President, I admire your tenacity. If you’re watching tonight, which I presume you are, how about this: I’ll go when you go, OK?,” before adding another teasingly disparaging nickname to his endless pile of alternate titles for the commander in chief. “We’ll be a team. Let’s ride off into the sunset together like Butch Cassidy and the Suntan Kid. And until then, if I may borrow a phrase from you: Quiet, piggy.”
The latter was a pointed reference to the insult Trump hurled at a reporter on Air Force One after she asked him a question about Epstein, with Trump snapping at Bloomberg News journalist Catherine Lucey, “Quiet! Quiet, piggy!“
After swift passage in the House and Senate, Trump signed legislation on Wednesday ordering the Justice Department to release documents related to Epstein. That came after multiple attempts by Trump to kill the legislation before changing course following the defection of several Republican House members urging their release, including such typically MAGA faithful stalwarts as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert.
The Justice Department now has 30 days to release the files, which Kimmel suggested could make for a “very merry Christmas indeed. I have a prediction for the next 30 days: I think we’re going to see Trump do some of the craziest s–t ever.”
Watch Kimmel’s monologue below.
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Legendarily prolific actor Samuel L. Jackson had no problem saying yes when he was asked to join Kendrick Lamar for the Grammy and Pulitzer prize-winning rapper’s Super Bowl LIX halftime show in February in New Orleans. And while Jackson thought he was signing up for another one of his eclectic acting gigs, the Tulsa King co-star told Jimmy Kimmel on Monday night (Nov. 17) that he had no idea he was signing up to be a surprise guest at a “revolution.”
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“Great time. I kind of had no idea when they called me and said, ‘Yeah, we’d really like for you to be part of Kendrick’s halftime show’… I was like ‘really?,’” Jackson recalled thinking at the time. When the show’s producers promised to send him the treatment for the show, consummate professional Jackson said he didn’t really care about all that and promised to be there when they needed him.
“And then when I got there and we were rehearsing, it was all kind of nice and fun and watching the dancers go through their routines,” he described. “It’s like, ‘damn! They’ve been rehearsing for a while, because they were like [snaps fingers.]’” In case you forgot, Jackson popped in dressed in a red, white and blue Uncle Sam outfit to welcome the crowd with the enthusiastic greeting, “your uncle… Sam and this is the great American game!”
Jackson said he had “no idea” about what was about to take place until dress rehearsal for what would become the most-watched halftime show in history, one in which he would provide Greek chorus-like commentary on the racial state of the nation. “That was the first time I knew we were doing a revolution,” Jackson said of the eye-popping spectacle at the Caesars Superdome that featured guest stars SZA, tennis great Serena Williams crip walking and record producer Mustard.
“I knew I was dressing as Uncle Sam, but I just thought that was like, okay, fine, it’s an Uncle Sam thing,” Jackson said. “When dress rehearsal starts I’m there I’m doing it and I turn around and I said, ‘wait a minute, that’s a flag… they’re making a flag up there,” he recalled of the sight of the mass of dancers in red, white and blue forming into the American flag. “Oh, now I’m going, ‘ah, now it’s revolutionary.’” He said it never occurred to him before that moment that the dancers would be activated into Old Glory, especially since a lot of people already call him “Uncle Sam” on the regular.
Jackson, who has worked with rappers before, including LL Cool J and Busta Rhymes, also famously appeared in the 1992 crime drama Juice alongside late rap icon Tupac Shakur in his first major role in a film. The actor, who had met Shakur before, said he was a “nice enough kid,” but recalled an incident on set that might surprise fans familiar with Jackson’s legendarily NSFW dialogue.
On a night when Jackson wasn’t shooting, his wife, actress LaTanya Jackson was sitting in a room with the mothers of the other kids who appeared in the film and “Tupac came through there and he was cussing somebody out and yelling, screaming.” So LaTanya Jackson grabbed Shakur and told the rapper, “‘Hey, don’t you see all the grown women, you can’t talk like that and use that kind of language!’ And everybody in the room was like [big inhale]. And he totally apologized [and said] ‘I’m so sorry.’” From that point on, Jackson said, Tupac was a gentleman and whenever he saw the actor’s wife he would greet her with, “‘Hey mom, how you doing?’”
Kimmel said it did strike him as odd that Jackson’s wife had a problem with foul language given his f-bomb proclivities. “Only in a room full of grown women,” Jackson explained, with Kimmel confirming that scripted cursing is seemingly okay with her. “If I’m at home, it’ my house,” Jackson explained. “I can say what I want to.”
Watch Samuel L. Jackson on Jimmy Kimmel Live! below.
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After taking a few days off to mourn, Jimmy Kimmel was back on the air on Monday night (Nov. 17), less than a week after the death of his lifelong best friend and late Jimmy Kimmel Live! bandleader, Cleto Escobedo III. Longtime viewers of the show likely noticed that when announcer Lou Wilson ran down the night’s guests, Samuel L. Jackson and comedian Ms. Pat, instead of ending with a shout-out to Cleto and the Cletones, Wilson debuted the house band’s subtly tweaked new name: The Cletones.
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The small, but significant change was another example of the huge hole left behind by Escobedo’s death on Nov. 11 due to the heart condition cariogenic shock. After a lifetime of friendship beginning when they were neighbors as children in the Las Vegas suburbs, Escobedo had been by Kimmel’s side during the entire run to date of his late night show, beginning in 2003.
Fighting through tears, Kimmel paid loving tribute to his pal during last Tuesday’s show when he announced Escobedo’s passing, calling his 22-minute homage the “hardest” monologue he’s ever had to do. “We loved all the same things. Baseball, fishing, boxing, [Muhammad] Ali, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen, Michael McDonald, Huey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, and most of all, we loved David Letterman,” Kimmel said.
“I wanted Cleto to lead my band,” he said of the late night ensemble that also featured Escobedo’s horn-playing father, Cleto Escobedo Sr. “The idea that anyone other than him would lead the band was terrifying. It had to be him. “ was so scared they would say no and I would have to have another band. I had to work up the nerve to bring it up. Because I knew [saying], ‘My best friend from growing up plays the saxophone, he could lead the band,’ wasn’t a great pitch.”
In further tribute to Escobedo, Kimmel announced over the weekend that he has started two fundraisers to celebrate the musician’s life and give back, one for UCLA Health in honor of the care Escobedo received there and The Animal Foundation to honor his “love of animals.”
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If you watched Jimmy Kimmel’s moving, 22-minute tribute to his longtime bandleader and lifelong best friend, saxophonist Cleto Escobedo III last week following the musician’s death at age 59, you know how crushing the loss was for the late night host.
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Now, following his tearful tribute to Escobedo, Kimmel is looking to raise funds for two organizations in his friend’s honor. In an Instagram post over the weekend, Kimmel shared a picture of Escobedo smiling with his wife, two children and their dog and another of the two pals laughing as they cradle their instruments in a parking lot.
“Cleto was always kind and eager to help others. As we mourn his loss, we have started two fundraisers to celebrate his life and give back,” wrote Kimmel. “The first is for UCLA Medical Center where he received such incredible care. Together we can help vulnerable patients and families in need of financial assistance during hard times. @UCLAHealth.
“In memory of our friend Cleto, we’d like to thank all the hardworking specialists, doctors, and nurses at UCLA. They worked tirelessly and generously to give him the best care,” reads a note on the fundraising page. “Cleto was always kind and eager to help others. To honor his generous spirit, we’d like to help vulnerable patients and families in need of financial assistance during hard times. Let’s help others in Cleto’s name.”
The second, he said was an effort to “honor his love of animals,” via fundraising links to @TheAnimalFoundation in the men’s former hometown of Las Vegas. “Cleto was a beloved friend, father, and animal lover whose heart was always open to pets in need,” reads a message on the organization’s home page, alongside a note from Escobedo’s family.
“Cleto was a compassionate animal lover. He loved each of his rescue dogs like they were family,” it read. “Please consider making a donation to The Animal Foundation in his hometown of Las Vegas. Cleto would have loved his friends and family helping to provide safety, healing and homes for pets in need.”
Kimmel announced Escobedo’s death last Tuesday, writing, “we lost a great friend, father, son, musician and man, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III. To say that we are heartbroken is an understatement. Cleto and I have been inseparable since I was nine years old. The fact that we got to work together every day is a dream neither of us could ever have imagined would come true. Cherish your friends and please keep Cleto’s wife, children and parents in your prayer.”
Escobedo led Kimmel’s late night house band, Cleto and the Cletones — which also included his sax-playing dad — since the show’s debut in 2003. On last Tuesday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! the host fought through tears to pay tribute to the man he called his best friend since the day they first met in 1977.
“We loved all the same things. Baseball, fishing, boxing, [Muhammad] Ali, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Woody Allen, Michael McDonald, Huey Lewis, Stevie Wonder, and most of all, we loved David Letterman,” Kimmel said. “Cherish your friends, we’re not here forever.”
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Christopher Cross’ “Sailing” isn’t coming in to dock anytime soon.
The American singer, songwriter and guitar talent released his “yacht rock” masterpiece back in 1979, a classic that sailed all the way to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Sailing” was one of four top 20 hits that appeared on Cross’ self-titled album, which, in 1981 would make history at the Grammy Awards, by sweeping five categories, including the Big Four — album, record and song of the year. Yes, it was unexpected. A shock, even. The only other artists to scoop the Big Four was Billie Eilish, doing so four decades later, in 2020.
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If “Sailing” was a guilty pleasure in the 1990s, today it’s simply a pleasure. The softly-spoken artist stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live earlier this week to take us all “Sailing,” the video of which can be seen below.
Cross, a formidable guitarist who was blessed with the voice of an angel, appears to have made a full recovery from his grueling health battle five years ago, during which he contracted Guillaine-Barre Syndrome (GBS) after having COVID-19.
At one stage, he was paralyzed from the waist down. “It really was touch and go, and tough,” he CBS Sunday Morning at the time.
Cross’s late-night spot came ahead of the release this Friday, Nov. 14 of All Right: The Worldwide Singles 1980–1988, the first career-spanning collection of his biggest hits, including “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” from the film Arthur, which also led the Billboard Hot 100 and won an Academy Award for best original song. The set is released through Omnivore Recordings, the label that issued an “expanded edition” of Christopher Cross in June 2025.
Now aged 74, Cross will play many of those hits when he embarks on a South American tour this December, including shows with fellow ‘80s heavyweights Toto. Live shows across the U.K. and Europe follow from May 2026.
Jelly Roll stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday night (April 24) to talk about the hardest part of being an American Idol mentor, leaving the continent for the first time on his upcoming tour with Post Malone and why he’s on the verge of jumping out of a plane and doing other wild stunts now that he’s nearing his goal weight.
Jelly, of course, talked about his recent weigh loss, which he said he couldn’t make sound cool, since it basically involves eating a “lot of protein and vegetables” and walking. It’s clearly working, with Jelly Roll saying he’s lost “an entire Jimmy Kimmel” to date, or around 200 pounds.
That means he’s nearing the ability to do the “fun stuff” he said you can do when you are under 250 lbs. “I want to skydive, I want to ride a roller coaster, I want to ride a bull. I know it sounds crazy [but] I want to wrestle an alligator,” he said.
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And, on the night when his beloved Tennessee Titans football team made news for snagging quarterback Cam Ward with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, Jelly Roll admitted that his pep talk to the team before their dismal 3-13 season last year may have been a mistake. “I prayed you didn’t talk about this on TV!” Jelly laughed, swearing that he won’t go anywhere near Nissan Stadium until the team gets at least one win this year.
“Could you imagine that? I finally get to go talk to my lifelong favorite football team, Jimmy and I’m giving them what I think is the most inspirational speech of their careers,” he said. “I left there like, ‘we’re going to the playoffs, baby!’ And then we laid an absolute turd!” He also recalled being right up close to the legendary “Music City Miracle,” a vaunted Jan. 2000 moment during the Titans’ AFC Wild Card playoff game against the Bills at home when Kevin Dyson ran 75 years on a lateral to score the winning touchdown.
Well, Jelly wasn’t there there. He was locked up on the second floor of juvie across the street, where he could just make out half the field and half the scoreboard while sharing a peek through a window with a couple other guys. “I had a skybox. I was on level two. I had a bird’s eye view,” he joked.
With his felonious days long behind him, Jelly Roll crowed about his upcoming first international dates as part of Post Malone’s summer Big Ass tour. “This is a big deal… I think that y’all have already figured out that I’m a convicted felon by this conversation,” he said of the reason he’s not been able to tour in Europe before now. In fact, earlier this week, the singer was in Nashville to speak to the Tennessee Parole Board before they recommended that the state’s Governor consider pardoning Jelly (born Jason DeFord), a move that would make it easier for him to travel the world more freely.
“I got my passport last year and I was excited,” he said of his first venture out of the U.S. to play a handful of Canadian dates. “I said, ‘the United States of America has finally allowed me leave! I have redeemed myself!’ I didn’t know how many countries wasn’t gonna let me in! I had trouble getting into Mexico. It was bad. I’m not making this up!”
Jelly also talked to Kimmel about being the “internal hype man” on American Idol as a mentor to his “little Jelly Babies,” and not realizing how hard it was going to be for him when they get voted off. “I’m taking it worse than them. One of them came off last week and I’m, like, sobbing and she’s like, ‘I’m going to be okay.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry! I just really love you!’”
The singer returned later in the show to perform the country rock gospel anthem “Hard Fought Hallelujah” with Christian singer Brandon Lake.
Luke Bryan says he didn’t plan to spend his morning watching Katy Perry’s space flight — but like many, he got caught up in the moment.
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week, the American Idol judge recounted how he found himself unexpectedly tuning into Blue Origin’s historic NS-31 launch, which saw Perry take flight alongside an all-female crew that included Lauren Sánchez, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyen, Gayle King and Kerianne Flynn.
“I was doing my morning walk around the farm, which turns into checking Instagram and stuff,” Bryan explained. “I saw where she was posting on her Instagram that it was happening at 8:30 Central and totally got roped into the moment.”
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The country star said he ended up watching the full livestream. “They’re in the Rivian, they’re heading to the capsule, and I’m sitting there walking and it roped me in,” he said. “Because when you have a friend — I mean, let’s face it — it could blow up. So I wanted it to not do that.”
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Bryan previously sent Perry a supportive text when she announced her participation, writing, “Good luck, wow, that’s crazy you’re getting to do that.”
While Perry has now officially been declared an astronaut after the successful launch, Bryan isn’t sure he’d follow in her footsteps just yet. When Kimmel asked if he’d want to go to space, Bryan laughed, “I probably would do it just because — I mean, you gotta take that chance.”
Kimmel pushed back: “No, you don’t. You don’t have to take that chance.”
Bryan agreed the decision would take “a delicate negotiation” with his family, adding, “I think I would get a resounding no.”
The two joked about potential country-themed space tracks, including “Chicken Jockey” and “Bass Fisherman in Space.”
Later in the interview, Bryan also discussed season 23 of American Idol, praising Jelly Roll’s role as artist-in-residence. “When you hear Jelly Roll’s story — the fact that he was 35 before he ever really started singing — what he’s been able to do since then is amazing,” he said. “He really develops a great connection [with contestants].”
Carrie Underwood has also joined the panel this season. “What she’s added to the show has been really, really special,” Bryan added.
Meanwhile, Bryan is preparing for two tours this year: his annual Farm Tour, which will head to California for the first time, and the Country Song Came On Tour. “When you pull out there and see 15,000 to 20,000 people come to a real working farm, it’s pretty magical,” he said. “It’s become something really important to me and my family.”
And yes — he confirmed he does own a helicopter, on Blake Shelton’s advice.
You could just barely hear it through the raucous screams of excitement from the studio audience, but K-pop boy band ENHYPEN did indeed make their U.S. television debut on Thursday night’s (April 10) Jimmy Kimmel Live! Dressed casually in ripped jeans and T-shirts, HEESUNG, JAY, JAKE, SUNGHOON, SUNOO, JUNGWON AND NI-KI kicked things off in […]
SZA stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday night (March 12) and spilled details about her upcoming Grand National Tour with Kendrick Lamar, her excitement for Sesame Street, and dodged a cheeky question about Drake.
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When Kimmel asked if the Grand National Tour would resemble their Super Bowl LVIII halftime performance, the “Saturn” singer teased that fans can expect something entirely new.
“Oh, we’re doing a new thing,” she said. “We’re both just kind of throwing all the paint at the wall… This is our first stadium show for both of us, so we pretty much have to go insane.”
While SZA and Lamar might be co-headlining, she hinted that the Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers rapper is very much in his own lane.
“Well, he’s a wizard, so that’s different,” she quipped when asked if they hang out behind the scenes. “Wizards tend to be solitary beings, from my observation… I think he’s doing the Merlin thing backstage, getting us ready to take off.”
The “Kill Bill” singer also fielded a not-so-subtle question from Kimmel about the tour’s upcoming Toronto stop—where one particular rapper famously resides.
“But what if you-know-who shows up?” Kimmel asked, clearly alluding to Canadian rapper, Drake.
SZA simply shrugged: “Who knows? Who knows?” before Kimmel joked that Kendrick would “wave his wand, and he will disappear.”
“That’s what he’s the man behind the curtain,” she replied.
Beyond the tour, SZA also gushed to Kimmel about a lifelong dream coming true—appearing on Sesame Street.
“That was actually the most intense room of celebrities I’ve ever been in,” she joked. “Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch… I got to talk to Cookie Monster.”
When Kimmel asked about the blue monster’s conversational skills, she laughed: “Terrible diction and alliteration. Very poor vocabulary, but tons of enthusiasm, I was so inspired!”
“It was like a true indicator that I’ve made it,” SZA added of her appearance on the show. “Shout out to the Super Bowl but Sesame Street..”
The Grand National Tour kicks off April 19 in Minneapolis, with stops across North America before heading overseas.
Fresh off her appearance at Sunday’s Academy Awards as part of a James Bond theme song tribute, BLACKPINK’s LISA bonded with Jimmy Kimmel over their shared experience of being flown up into the rafters on wires at the Oscars. “It seemed so elegant and graceful, but it’s kind of scary right?” asked Kimmel on Tuesday night’s (March 4) Jimmy Kimmel Live!, recalling the agita (and discomfort) he felt while flying over the stage during one of his hosting stints on the awards show.
“It was really scary,” LISA smiled. “I was like, ‘I’m not comfortable doing this!” The singer said producers repeatedly checked in to make sure she felt good about being lowered to the stage in a harness as she sang Paul McCartney and Wings’ “Live and Let Die” as part of a medley that also had Doja Cat covering Shirley Bassey’s “Diamond Are Forever” and RAYE’s take on Adele’s “Skyfall.” While Kimmel complained about gravity “squeezing everything down” if you know what he means, LISA said she couldn’t really feel her legs.
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“Those were the least of my problems,” Kimmel joked.
The BLACKPINK singer also talked about her well-received turn as Mook on the current season of HBO’s The White Lotus, noting that many fans have speculated that because her resort worker character is so sweet on the series she might turn out to be the killer. “Oh… am I supposed to tell you that?” she responded haltingly, with a coquettish glint in her eye. “Legally you should not, but I would appreciate it if you did,” Kimmel said, knowing that his ploy to squeeze some spoilers about the tightly-held plot of the show was going nowhere.
“I think she’s a sweet girl,” LISA said of the character whose name means “pearl” in Thai before Kimmel explained the not-as-nice meaning of the word in America. Kimmel also wondered if during the cast’s regular karaoke sessions on set if the crew or extras freaked out when they saw the K-pop superstar stepping up to the mic. “They don’t care!,” LISA said. “I’m just sitting in the corner of the room cheering them, hyping them up,” she said, explaining that she didn’t sing during the sessions, but was more into dancing.
“I feel weird for me to grab the mic and sing karaoke,” she smiled. “[There’s] a lot of pressure.” As for who was the best karaoke singer in the cast, LISA said for sure it was the lone returning actor from season two: horny masseuse Natasha Rothwell. “Oh, she’s so good!” LISA said.
She also discussed the concept behind her just-released solo album, Alter Ego, explaining that while recording it in Los Angeles she tried her hand at recording songs in a variety of styles, all of which she ended up loving. “That’s why I called this album Alter Ego and [I] have five different characters [on it],” she said of Roxi, Kiki, Sunni, Speedi and the main character, Vixi.
These days, she said, Vixi is the one that is closest to her actual personality, though, like Speedi, she loves to drive fast in her car.
Watch LISA on Jimmy Kimmel Live! below.
