Jimmy Kimmel Almost Quit His Show Over One Specific Network Request

Jimmy Kimmel has made no secret of his dislike for former President Donald Trump. In 2017, the "Jimmy Kimmel Live" host blasted Trump during his opening monologue, suggesting the then-president "screws up" the country daily. "Everyone said he wouldn't [win]. But he did. And it's exciting because this is your guy. You picked a horse like 35-1 and somehow it paid off," Kimmel quipped. "He screws up royally every day. Sometimes two or three times a day. We can't keep up with it. Things come out of nowhere. Every day, there's something nuts." The late-night talker went on to exclaim that Trump supporters were blindly following the business mogul to spite the liberals.

Despite his apparent disapproval of Trump, Kimmel invited the reality star to his show during his presidential campaign. However, that didn't stop Kimmel from taking jabs at the politician, as moments before their interview, the comedian suggested Trump was a bully who took Jeb Bush's "lunch money and pulled his underwear up to his neck" (via Los Angeles Times).

Now, Kimmel has revealed that his overt disapproval of Trump's actions once landed him in a tense predicament with his ABC.

For his part, Donald Trump has also fired back at Jimmy Kimmel. During a 2018 rally, Trump said the broadcaster had "no talent" and even suggested Kimmel was a fan of his prior to his bid for president. Trump went on to collectively slam several late-night talkers — including Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert — questioning, "Honestly, are these people funny?"

Kimmel has remained unfazed by Trump's remarks, as he has continued to take jabs at the former "Celebrity Apprentice" host. Now, Kimmel has revealed that he once threatened to walk away from his Emmy-winning program after ABC executives asked him to tone down his attacks on Trump after losing a large portion of his fanbase. "I said, 'Listen ... if that's what you want to do, I understand and I don't begrudge you for it, but I'm not going to do that. If you want someone else to host the show, that's fine ... with me," Kimmel recounted during an appearance on the "Naked Lunch" podcast. According to Kimmel, the network backed down. "They knew I was serious," he continued. "I couldn't live with myself."

Ultimately, it appears that Kimmel's intuition was correct. According to Rolling Stone, Kimmel's late-night presence "soared" during Trump's presidency and has since become one of the longest-running late-night show across all major networks.