Maybe Kimmel saw it coming!
On September 17, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be preempted indefinitely after host
Jimmy Kimmel made remarks about the recent killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. The move comes after major ABC affiliates refused to air the show, calling Kimmel’s remarks “offensive and insensitive.” The network said it will pre-empt the show in favor of other programming for the foreseeable future.
As the rumors swirled that Kimmel, the host of the show, was “fired” from his own show, talk of him moving to Italy added fuel to the fire.
But is it actually true? Is he really done with American late-night and the United States altogether? Here’s what is known so far.
What actually happened
Recently, ABC announced Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be pre-empted indefinitely following remarks Kimmel made in his monologues about Charlie Kirk’s death. What did he say?
On Monday night, during his opening monologue, Jimmy Kimmel accused those in “MAGA-land” of trying to “capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.” He said they were attempting to frame the accused shooter, Tyler Robinson, as something other than “one of them” and using the tragedy for political leverage.
As his monologue went:
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kimmel also criticized the reaction of President Donald Trump and others, saying, Trump’s response was “not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend.” He added, “This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”
Kimmel even called out Vice President J.D. Vance for blaming “the left” for Kirk’s death.
He also mocked the way some figures handled the investigation, saying it was like “a kid who didn’t read the book, BS’ing his way through an oral report.”
The comments drew criticism from many ABC affiliates and even from the chair of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr.
Major station groups like Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair said they would stop airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! on their ABC affiliates. Nexstar called Kimmel’s comments “offensive and insensitive.” ABC stated the show is suspended indefinitely – that is, there's no broadcast date yet for new episodes. But crucially, the network has not said Kimmel has been fired.
Rumors about moving to Italy
As the show’s future hangs by a thread and, in extension, Kimmel’s own future as a late-night talk show host is uncertain, rumors started gaining momentum that Kimmel might be following the footsteps of Ellen DeGeneres, Rosie O'Donnell – that is, moving out of the United States, preferably to Italy.
But is it true?
Kimmel’s past connection to Italy:
Jimmy Kimmel’s connection with the Southern European country runs deep. Kimmel’s mother’s family is of Italian descent. His maternal ancestors came from Ischia, an island near Naples. They migrated to the US after the 1883 earthquake that devastated areas, including Casa Micciola on Ischia.
Meanwhile, two of Kimmel’s paternal great-great-grandparents were German immigrants. In fact, his family's surname was Kümmel ('caraway' in German) several generations back.
He obtained Italian citizenship in 2025.
Kimmel’s present ties with Italy:
In 2025, Kimmel shared that he had officially obtained Italian citizenship. This was made possible because of his ancestry – specifically through his grandmother (and her family’s Italian origin). Kimmel announced this publicly on Italian Republic Day in Los Angeles, saying: “I have just obtained citizenship, thanks to my beloved grandmother Edith, whose family came from Candida, in the province of Avellino.”
Is he moving to Italy?
There’s more to Kimmel’s Italian citizenship than simply his family lineage. The prominent comedian and late-night show host shared that he obtained Italian citizenship in part because of the political atmosphere in the United States under the current president, Donald Trump. He even voiced concerns that things are “much worse than we imagined.” In fact, it seems that having dual citizenship is viewed by him as a backup plan, in case circumstances make it appealing or necessary to have legal ties outside the US.
However, Kimmel has publicly denied having any intention of moving abroad. He said the idea is a political rumor (“MAGA rumors,” in his words) and made jokes about absurd alternatives (like moving into Mar-a-Lago) to deflect such speculation. So while citizenship is true, any potential plan of relocation in the near future is not.
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