Jimmy Kimmel.Photo:Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Jon Kopaloff/Getty
Jimmy Kimmelis revealing his previous plan before the Hollywood strike.
Speaking on his new Spotify podcastStrike Force FivewithJimmy Fallon,Seth Meyers,Stephen ColbertandJohn Oliver,Kimmel, 55, revealed that he was ready to put up hisJimmy Kimmel Live!hosting shoes around the start of theWriters Guild of America (WGA) strikein May.
“I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started,”Kimmel told his co-hostson Wednesday. “And now I realize, oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work.” Kimmel is the host and executive producer ofJimmy Kimmel Live!,which he’s hosted since 2003.
He added: “When you are working you think about not working."
Meyers, 49, chimed in, asking: “Kimmel, c’mon, you are theTom Bradyof late night…you have feigned retirement… Are we to take you at your word?”
Kimmel replied, “I was serious, I was very, very serious.” The comedian also admitted that he prefers to have the summers off when he’s getting paid to have time off.
The WGA, who have been on strike for issues such as better pay, limits on artificial intelligence (AI) and increased residuals since May 2, represent over 1,000 writers across television, film, news and online media. Furthermore, the labor union went on strike after Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to reach an agreed-upon contract with them on May 1.
This resulted in the production of late-night shows, such asJimmy Kimmel Live!,The Tonight Show StarringJimmy Fallon,The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,Late Night with Seth MeyersandThe Daily Show, to come to a halt, with reruns being broadcast instead.
On Tuesday, Fallon, 48, Meyers, Colbert, 59, Oliver, 46, and Kimmel announced the launch of their limited series, which follows the hosts navigating “the Hollywood strikes and beyond."
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In July,SAG-AFTRA — the unionthat comprises the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — announced its own strike after failed contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
source: people.com
