Jimmy Kimmel isn’t packing up his desk just yet, but retirement has clearly entered the conversation. The longtime late-night host recently opened up about what walking away could look like, admitting he sometimes wonders how his younger self would react to that decision.
Jimmy Kimmel discusses the future of his late-night career
Jimmy Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney, who also serves as an executive producer on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, tackled the subject during their appearance on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast. Kimmel acknowledged that he has watched other performers leave television, only to return later in a diminished version of their former careers.
That possibility makes him wonder whether he could face the same fate. “I always look at that and go, Oh, is that going to be me?” Kimmel said, reflecting on performers who announce retirement before eventually coming back.
There is another voice in his head, too: his 25-year-old self. Kimmel said that a younger version of him probably would have struggled to understand why anyone would willingly give up a job in television. Still, he does not view retirement as an all-or-nothing proposition. “It depends on what you mean by retirement,” he explained, adding that he would never completely stop working.
The timing matters. Kimmel signed a one-year extension with Disney in December, leaving his current agreement in place through May 2027. He previously spent years wrestling with the question of whether to continue, including a 2021 conversation with Howard Stern in which he described himself as “vacillating” before eventually agreeing to a three-year deal in 2022 (via Deadline).
McNearney appears ready for either outcome. She said she would happily finish the show on a high note, but she also believes Kimmel’s voice remains important and wants him to continue while he feels motivated.
Jimmy Kimmel has spent decades building that voice. He launched Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2003 and has earned multiple Emmy Awards during a career spanning late-night television, comedy, and major awards-show hosting duties.
