ABC's longest-running late-night host will not return after the upcoming season of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", a move that caps a turbulent stretch of political controversy, temporary suspensions, and Disney's broader cost-cutting push.

Jimmy Kimmel's contract with ABC will not be renewed, and the season that begins Tuesday will be the show's last, Page Six reported, citing a source familiar with the situation. The show is expected to wrap in May 2027, ending a 24-year run that began in 2003.

An ABC Entertainment spokesperson pushed back hard on the report. The network's official response: "This information is inaccurate, any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative." But the sourcing from Page Six points to a decision already made inside Disney, where new boss Josh D'Amaro has been offering veteran executives early retirement packages as part of a broader restructuring effort.

Kimmel's political provocations drew repeated backlash

The end of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" arrives after a string of on-air incidents that put the host at odds with the White House and a large share of the viewing public. Earlier this year, Kimmel quipped that first lady Melania Trump "had a glow like an expectant widow", a remark delivered just days before a third assassination attempt on President Trump. The president called for ABC to fire Kimmel.

That was not the first time Kimmel's monologue landed him in serious trouble. In September 2025, he made remarks about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Then-Disney CEO Bob Iger temporarily pulled Kimmel off the air in response.

Kimmel has long taken pride in signing year-to-year deals with ABC, a posture that gave him creative freedom but also left the network with a clean exit ramp whenever the cost-benefit math shifted. And by 2026, the math had clearly shifted.

Disney's D'Amaro is cutting costs, not settling political scores, sources say

Sources told Page Six that D'Amaro's decision was not driven by political pressure from the Trump administration. A TV insider described D'Amaro as someone not swayed by politics. The framing from those close to the situation points instead to Disney's ongoing restructuring, which has included early retirement offers to veteran executives across the company.

Still, the timing is hard to separate from the political context. ABC and Disney sued the FCC the day after Rosie O'Donnell's debut as a guest host on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" The lawsuit accused the commission of attacking the network's free speech by requesting a review of ABC's broadcasting licenses earlier than usual. That legal fight underscores the tension between the network and federal regulators, a tension that has only grown as ABC navigates its broader relationship with the current administration.

Whether D'Amaro's team made a purely financial decision or a financial decision that also happened to solve a political headache is a question Disney is unlikely to answer publicly. But the result is the same: Kimmel is out.

O'Donnell's guest run and the Colbert precedent

Before the cancellation report surfaced, O'Donnell completed a four-night guest-hosting stint on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that was described as a ratings success. She went viral for performing a parody of the traditional Irish song "Danny Boy," rewritten as "Donnie Boy" to mock President Trump.

The guest run kept the show in the headlines, but it also kept the show in the crosshairs. O'Donnell's debut directly preceded the ABC-Disney lawsuit against the FCC, tying the show's programming choices to a broader legal and regulatory confrontation.

Kimmel's exit also follows CBS ending "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" in May. Two of the three legacy network late-night franchises are now gone or going, a shift that marks the end of an era in which network hosts used their platforms primarily as vehicles for progressive political commentary. The audience erosion and advertiser math that drove these decisions are real. But so is the fact that both hosts spent years alienating roughly half the country.

ABC denies the report, but the pattern is clear

ABC's denial deserves its full weight. The spokesperson called the report "purely speculative," and it is possible that contract discussions remain fluid. Page Six attributed its reporting to a single source familiar with the situation, not to multiple named officials or leaked documents.

But the broader picture is hard to dismiss. Disney is restructuring. D'Amaro is pushing early retirements. Kimmel's year-to-year contract structure makes a quiet exit easy. And the host has spent the last year generating the kind of headlines that make corporate lawyers wince, from the Melania Trump "expectant widow" crack to the Charlie Kirk remarks that got him temporarily yanked off the air.

No replacement host or format for the timeslot has been announced. Whether ABC fills the slot with another talk show, a cheaper programming alternative, or something else entirely remains an open question. What is clear is that the network's appetite for absorbing political risk on Kimmel's behalf has limits, and those limits appear to have been reached.

Late-night television spent two decades turning itself into a nightly progressive rally. Now the bills are coming due, in ratings, in regulatory fights, and in contracts that simply do not get renewed.