Jimmy Kimmel Live was awarded the trophy for Best Talk Show at the Critics Choice Awards last night, leading host Jimmy Kimmel to joke that he owed the win to his nemesis “Donald Jennifer Trump.”
“A FIFA Peace Prize would have been better, but this is nice, too,” Kimmel noted after taking the stage at the Barker Hangar in Los Angeles alongside his wife, Molly McNearney, who is the show’s co-head writer.
After thanking McNearney along with the show’s producers, Kimmel acknowledged the support he received from the late-night community after Jimmy Kimmel Live was temporarily suspended last year.
“We share this award with our colleagues in late night, our fellow nominees who did not care enough to be here with you tonight,” Kimmel said. “Thanks to all the writers and actors and producers and union members, many of you who are in this room, who supported us, who really stepped forward and reminded us that we do not take free speech for granted in this city or in this country. Your actions were important. We appreciate that.”
Kimmel then directed his gratitude towards the president. “Most of all, I want to thank our President, Donald Jennifer Trump, without whom we would be going home empty-handed tonight,” Kimmel told the audience. “Thank you, Mr. President, for all the many ridiculous things you do each and every day. It’s been a banner couple of weeks, and we can’t wait to get back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them. Thank you, everyone.”
Jimmy Kimmel roasts Donald Trump after winning the Critics Choice Awards for Best Talk Show:
“And most of all, I want to thank our president, Donald Jennifer Trump, without whom, we would be going home empty handed tonight” pic.twitter.com/4JagNhAD2H
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Kimmel reflected on the win backstage, calling last year “almost a near-death experience.”
“Of course not literally,” he told reporters. “But I did feel a little bit like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn watching their own funeral when all this stuff happened. To be here and to see that people reacted to it in a, not just a positive way but in almost a desperate way. We’re like, ‘Oh, boy, when they come after the comedians, this is when we draw the line.’ And we’re very grateful that they drew the line at us.”
Kimmel and Trump have been trading barbs for months. On Christmas Day, Kimmel delivered Channel 4’s annual Alternative Christmas Message to viewers in the U.K. “I can tell you that, from a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,” Kimmel said. “Tyranny is booming over here. You may have read in your colorful newspapers that my country’s president would like to shut me up because I don’t adore him in the way he likes to be adored.”
He continued, “The American government made a threat against me and the company I work for, and all of a sudden we were off the air. But then, you know what happened? A Christmas miracle happened. Well, it was September, it was a September miracle.”
“Our show came back stronger than ever,” Kimmel affirmed. “We won, the President lost, and now I’m back on the air every night, giving the most powerful politician on earth a right and richly deserved bollocking.”
Last year, Kimmel renewed his deal to host Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC until May 2027. The show returns tonight, Jan. 5, with guests Ben Affleck and Erin Doherty, and musical guest Molly Tuttle.
From Rolling Stone US
