Jimmy Kimmel, in his last show before 2026, complained of a hard year and tearfully thanked his viewers for their continued support, telling them that he had a difficult job and often felt as though they were "spinning our wheels."
"It has been a hard year. We’ve had some lows. We’ve had some highs — for me, maybe more than any year of my life, but all of us — I’m crying already, sorry. But on behalf of all of us here at our show, I just want to say that we appreciate your support, your enthusiasm, and not just for watching," Kimmel said. "This year you literally pulled us out of a hole, and we cannot thank you enough personally, professionally. . . ."
Kimmel said that while there may be "a lot harder jobs" than being a late-night host, he complained that "this isn’t an easy job to do" and that sometimes "it feels like we’re spinning our wheels."
"You see so many awful and destructive acts, all this damage we inflict on ourselves on purpose, and it can make you feel crazy trying to wrap your head around these things that are so clearly wrong," he said. "You know, you grow up reading ‘Superman,’ and you learn the value of truth, justice, and the American way, and then you start to realize, especially over the last year, you don’t know where that all went."
"You don’t know what the American way even is anymore," he added
Kimmel said that people, including viewers, "friends and colleagues," on other shows, say his show "makes them feel less crazy, it makes me feel less crazy, too."
He then made a dig at the Trump administration, describing America as experiencing an "extended psychotic episode."
"There is still much more good in this country than bad, and we hope that you will bear with us during this extended psychotic episode that we’re in the middle of. And we wish you a happy whatever holiday you celebrate, even if it’s none of the above," Kimmel said.
🔥👀 WATCH MULTI MILLIONAIRE JIMMY KIMMEL CRY ABOUT HOW HARD HIS YEAR WAS. He explains “How hard his job is” & thanks everyone for watching and pulling him out of a hole.
— Johnny St.Pete (@JohnMcCloy) December 19, 2025
THING IS..THATS not true. The rumor is ABC/DISNEY had to threaten affiliates with taking away MONDAY… pic.twitter.com/NlADrZTk4F
Kimmel’s alleged difficult year stems from ABC suspending his show for five days following his shallow and disrespectful remarks after the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. The network received threats from the FCC Chair, Brendan Carr.
“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” the president of Nexstar's (the parent company of KTLA) broadcasting division, Andrew Alford, said. “Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”