Kimmel Fires Back at Trump's Firing Demand, Alleges Epstein-Files Distraction Play

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel responded on air to President Donald Trump's renewed demand that ABC and Disney fire him, mocking Trump's Truth Social attack and alleging on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that the president's campaign to silence him is designed to distract from "the Trump-Epstein files" and from what Kimmel described as an illegal war in Iran — characterizations Kimmel presented as his own allegations, not established facts.

The Details

Trump posted on Truth Social on April 30, 2026, demanding that ABC move against Kimmel and framing the call in terms of ratings. "When is ABC Fake News Network firing seriously unfunny Jimmy Kimmel, who incompetently presides over one of the Lowest Rated shows on Television? People are angry. It better be soon!!!" Trump wrote in the post, as reported by Variety.

Kimmel answered during the May 1 episode of his late-night program, turning Trump's ratings attack into a counter-argument. "If incompetently presiding over not just one of but the lowest rating in history is why I should be fired, we should both be out of a job," Kimmel said on air, according to Variety's report on the episode.

Kimmel did not stop at the ratings exchange. He closed his response by framing the whole pressure campaign as a political distraction operation. He said Trump's mission to silence him was meant to "distract us from the Trump-Epstein files" and the "illegal war he started" in Iran, according to Variety's account of the monologue. Variety reported the allegation as Kimmel's own framing, and it is not presented in the reporting as an independently verified account of Trump's intent.

NBC News separately confirmed Trump's demand, reporting that he had called for Kimmel to be "immediately fired by Disney and ABC." In the same broadcast, Kimmel defended his earlier joke about Melania Trump, which had been cited by both the president and the first lady as grounds for his dismissal. "It was not by any stretch of the definition a call to assassination. And they know that," Kimmel said, according to NBC News.

The central flashpoint in the most recent round of the feud was Kimmel's joke describing Melania Trump as an "expectant widow," Variety reported. Both Donald and Melania Trump cited the remark in pressing ABC and Disney to discipline or remove him. Trump allies linked the joke to arguments about political rhetoric in the aftermath of a shooting scare at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, NBC News reported.

Variety reported that Disney has been standing by Kimmel throughout the latest escalation despite pressure from Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

Context

The most recent push for Kimmel's removal follows a pattern of escalating demands from Trump and his allies over several days. The shooting scare at the White House Correspondents' Dinner added urgency to Trump allies' argument that Kimmel's "expectant widow" joke contributed to political hostility, according to NBC News.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's involvement added a federal regulatory dimension to the dispute, according to Variety. Carr publicly aligned with Trump's calls for action against the network.

Disney's continued public support for Kimmel, as reported by Variety, meant that neither sustained social media pressure from the president nor the FCC chairman's stated position had produced an announced change in the company's posture toward its late-night host.

What's Next

Kimmel's explicit invocation of the Epstein files in his May 1 monologue marks a new element in the dispute, one that Variety's reporting covered directly. The back-and-forth between the host and the president had been escalating over several days ahead of the broadcast, based on the timeline of stories reported by Variety and NBC News.