Jimmy Kimmel Hints At The Fate Of His Late Night Show

Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmelhas hinted that his show will come to an end after his contract expires.

Kimmel has been the host and executive producer of 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' since 2003. Over the years, he has had many celebrities on his show, including Mark Wahlberg, Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, Noah Cyrus, and many more.

His show is amongst some of the biggest late-night shows to date, but it seems that may be coming to an end, as Kimmel recently hinted he is done after his contract expires in 2025.

When speaking on his plans with the late-night show, he admits that he "thinks this is my final contract."

"I hate to even say it, because everyone’s laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case. I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good. That seems like enough,” Kimmel told the Los Angeles Times.

He is currently preparing to host the 2024 Oscars, which he says helped to influence his retirement decision.

“It’s hard to yearn for it when you’re doing it,” he told the outlet. “Wednesday night, I was very tired and I had all these scripts to go through — I had to revise and rewrite all these pitch ideas for the Oscars — and I was literally nodding off onto my computer.

“In those moments, I think, ‘I cannot wait until my contract is over.’ But then, I take the summer off or I go on strike, and you start going, ‘Yeah, I miss the fun stuff'," he added.

The nighttime talk show host is set to return to host the 96th Oscars ceremony, making it the fourth time Kimmel has been given this honor. He previously hosted in 2017, 2018, and 2022. As many may remember, the 2017 Oscars were when the infamous “La La Land” and “Moonlight” best picture screw-up occurred.

Last year, Kimmel addressed the infamous Will Smith slap, which ahead of the live show, stated he would lead with the topic.

“I have given it much thought,” he told 'Good Morning America' co-anchor Lara Spencer in an interview ahead of the Oscars last year. “I know that a million jokes have been made about it, a million think pieces have been written on it… There has been a lot said about it, so whatever I say has to be I think — you know, it has to be good.”

“And I do have some good things to say about it. I think that it’s gonna be on everybody’s mind,” he added. “Everybody’s gonna be waiting for that moment. And that will be part of the show, but certainly not the focus of the show.”

Kimmel hosted last year’s awards show, which seemed to have excited fans as the 2023 Oscars ratings saw a bump in viewership as it recorded an average audience of 18.8 total million viewers, which was a 13% increase from the previous figures.

He is set to return to the 96th Oscars, which will be held at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday, March 10, 2024.