{"id":289067,"date":"2025-10-09T11:04:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/289067\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T11:04:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T11:04:14","slug":"jimmy-kimmel-backs-dana-walden-as-next-disney-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/289067\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel Backs Dana Walden as Next Disney CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe second to last question Bloomberg<\/a>\u2019s Lucas Show asked of Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> in the final moments of their interview at Screentime in Los Angeles on Wednesday evening just so happened to be the million dollar one that all of Hollywood has been asking for quite some time: Who is going to be the next CEO of Disney?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI happen to love Dana Walden very much, and I think she\u2019s done a great job,\u201d Kimmel said after acknowledging that it would be \u201cvery foolish\u201d of him to offer any response at all, which makes sense considering his status as one of the studio\u2019s high-profile in-house talents. But he\u2019s had a lot of dealings with Disney\u2019s executive class as the host of ABC\u2019s Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a>, and a direct line to the very top in recent days amid his controversial suspension.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tHe factored the latter into his decision to back Walden<\/a>: \u201cI think what has happened over the last like three weeks was very unfair to my bosses at Disney. I don\u2019t think anyone should ever be put in a position like this. It is insane, and I hope that we drew a really, really bold red line as Americans about what we will and will not accept them, and really hope that that\u2019s what comes out of all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKimmel and Walden. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(Photo by Tommaso Boddi\/Getty Images for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation)<\/p>\n

\n\tKimmel\u2019s Screentime appearance came two weeks after he returned to the airwaves on ABC\u2019s Jimmy Kimmel Live! following a brief but monumental suspension<\/a> that kicked off a debate over free speech. It all started when Kimmel delivered comments on the Sept. 15 edition of his show about Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassin, saying, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe moment went viral and sparked backlash. Brendan Carr was among those who commented, and the FCC chair went so far as to threaten ABC\u2019s affiliate licenses. Two days later, Disney bosses made the decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a suspension that lasted less than a week amid widespread backlash from Hollywood\u2019s creative community which turned out to support the beloved host online and in real life. His return<\/a>, marked by a nearly 30-minute opening, delivered record ratings and found Kimmel expressing gratitude to his supporters, clarifying his comments about Kirk and defending free speech.<\/p>\n

\n\tAt Screentime, Kimmel elaborated on the behind-the-scenes negotiations as his show went dark. \u201cI hate to disappoint you, but they were really good conversations. I mean, like, really good conversations,\u201d Kimmel said of chats with Walden and current CEO Bob Iger. \u201cThese are people that I I\u2019ve known for a long time, and who I like very much. And we all wanted this to work out best.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThat said, the firestorm did disrupt their schedules. \u201cFirst of all, I ruined Dana\u2019s weekend. It was just nonstop phone calls all weekend. But I don\u2019t think the result would have been as positive if I hadn\u2019t talked to Dana as much as I did, because it helped me think everything through. And it helped me understand where everyone was coming from. I can sometimes be reactionary, I can sometimes be aggressive, and I can sometimes be unpleasant. And having those days to think about it was helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKimmel had a lot to think about on Wednesday night as Shaw grilled him on the suspension, his prediction on the future of late night TV, the economics of his show, whether he plans to re-up his contract next year and what he really thinks of the Riyadh Comedy Festival. Highlights are below. <\/p>\n

\t\tKimmel Thought His Show Might Never Come Back\t<\/p>\n

\n\tDuring his suspension, the veteran host thought it his run might be over. \u201cI\u2019m a troublemaker, just by nature,\u201d he said in recalling back to his early days hosting the show at a time when the Los Angeles Lakers faced off with the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA playoffs. \u201cI said something to the effect of, \u2018Well, I hope they don\u2019t burn Detroit down.\u2019 And everyone in Detroit was very unhappy. People were mad, and they pulled me off the air in Detroit. A guy who\u2019s really been like my mentor at ABC, Alex Wallau, said to me, \u2018You know, if we don\u2019t have Detroit, you\u2019re done with the show. The show\u2019s over.\u2019 I said, \u2018Really?\u2019 He said, \u2018Yeah, you can\u2019t go forward without a major market like that,\u2019 which was news to me. So I went to Detroit and did the show for a week and kissed as much ass as I possibly could.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tKnowing the implications of losing one major market loomed large over the suspension that saw around 70 ABC affiliate stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group dropping the show. \u201cKnowing that, I was like, well that\u2019s it.\u201d That and Kimmel added that he was not going to go along with the \u201clist of demands\u201d presented to him by those affiliates, which included an apology and a donation to Kirk\u2019s Turning Point USA. \u201cI said to my wife, \u2018That\u2019s it. It\u2019s over.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tAs Kimmel Finalized Return, He Knew \u201cSpirit\u201d of Monologue\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the powers-that-be hashed out a plan for Kimmel\u2019s return to the airwaves, they didn\u2019t formalize exactly what he would say on the first night back but rather they agreed on the \u201cspirit\u201d of those comments. \u201cUltimately, I wanted to kind of cover every base if I could,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was something really that had to come from inside me. It had to be truthful, and I had to lay it all out there and just be honest about what I was feeling and what I\u2019d experienced. I think that it probably went about as well as it could go. I knew that it wasn\u2019t going to be perfect. There were always going to be people that didn\u2019t like it and didn\u2019t accept it, but the important thing to me was that I was able to explain what I was trying to say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tKimmel Doesn\u2019t Believe Economics Led to Stephen Colbert\u2019s Cancellation\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIn July, CBS confirmed in a shock announcement <\/a>that was pulling the plug on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert<\/a>. In the months since, much has been made about the reasons why, and Kimmel said that he doesn\u2019t believe the reports that claim it\u2019s because Colbert\u2019s show was losing upwards of $40 million per year. \u201cBecause it just doesn\u2019t make any sense. I know what the budgets for these shows are. I know what I make. I know what Stephen makes. I know what the ad sales people make. I know that there are values that nobody bothers to consider, like the affiliate fees that have to get to account for a portion of that when you talk about an hour of television every night, five nights a week. I know that it\u2019s not $40 million. Is the show losing money? That I don\u2019t know? I can\u2019t imagine it\u2019s losing a lot of money, if it is.\u201d Shaw then asked Kimmel for a \u201cballpark\u201d figure of what a show like his costs to produce. \u201c$120 million,\u201d he confirmed. \u201cI know that if we\u2019re losing so much money, none of us would be on. That\u2019s kind of all you need to know. This is not PBS, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tKimmel on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tScott Kowalchyk\/CBS<\/p>\n

\t\tLate Night Can Survive \u2014 At a Cost\t<\/p>\n

\n\tAmid industry wide concerns about the future of late night, Kimmel said he doesn\u2019t believe there\u2019s a reason for these shows to go away entirely. \u201cThere are ways,\u201d he said, pointing to tighter production costs. \u201cThe idea that these shows need to cost $120 million is crazy. They don\u2019t need to cost $120 million, and somebody will figure it out. \u2026 You could still have the same format, you could still have a band, you could have all of those things and still do the show for a lot less money. It\u2019s just that the host is not going to make as much money, and audience isn\u2019t going to be as big. But that\u2019s OK, because I love seeing these things, and I love the idea that people can make a living with 200,000 viewers every day or every night. And they can talk about weirdly specific things, and those people who are really interested in those weirdly specific things have a place to take those to absorb that stuff. I think that\u2019s great. I love the idea that a 16 year old can have their own TV show.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tKimmel Would\u2019ve Said No to Riyadh Comedy Festival\t<\/p>\n

\n\tIn recent days, the Riyadh Comedy Festival has caused a firestorm of controversy<\/a>, and the subject came up as Shaw asked Kimmel about having Aziz Ansari on his show recently to promote his new film Good Fortune. Ansari was among the 50 or so comedians that traveled to Saudi Arabia, and Shaw indicated that Kimmel\u2019s line of questioning made it seem like he was against the event. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have gone, but I wanted to hear his reasons, and I thought he had some compelling reasons,\u201d Kimmel explained. \u201cNothing\u2019s black and white. It\u2019s not something I would do but I do understand the idea that if we close ourselves off to the world, or we isolate, that maybe it\u2019s not good.\u201d Kimmel continued by saying that while traveling \u201cmany of us\u201d don\u2019t want to be held accountable for what President Trump says. \u201cI\u2019m fortunate enough to be well known, and people know where I\u2019m coming from but it would be a different situation if people didn\u2019t know who I was. Probably the first thing I\u2019d say as I got into every cab is, \u2018I didn\u2019t vote for him, just FYI so you know.\u2019 I do think that kind of makes me understand [their] position better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The second to last question Bloomberg\u2019s Lucas Show asked of Jimmy Kimmel in the final moments of their…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":289068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3638,171,11171,50812,47174,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-289067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bloomberg","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-jimmy-kimmel","11":"tag-jimmy-kimmel-live","12":"tag-the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115343882260905444","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/289068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}