Jimmy Kimmel was “very intent on retiring” before the strike
Kimmel continues his streak of threatening retirement on the first episode of Strike Force Five
Among Jimmy Kimmel’s many beloved catchphrases, such as “We have a great show tonight” and “Ziggy Zaggy, Ziggy Zaggy, Oi, Oi, Oi,” “I cannot do this anymore” is a constant refrain. Well, maybe not in so many words, but Kimmel has made a tradition of threatening retirement every so often. So it is no surprise that Kimmel would play the hits on the inaugural episode of Strike Force Five, the Spotify podcast featuring late-night hosts Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver. During their chat, Kimmel revealed that he was “very intent on retiring” when the strike began. “And now, I realize, Oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work.”
But Kimmel can’t keep talking that trash around his talk show brethren—let alone a known straight-shooter like Seth Meyers, who called Kimmel “the Tom Brady of late night.” Despite Meyers objections (“You have feigned retirement”), Kimmel insists he was serious this time—“very, very serious.”
Meyers is right, though. Kimmel has publicly considered hanging up his $5,000 Tom Ford “Everyman” suit before. In 2017, he defended himself from the throngs of online commenters declaring his retirement imminent. Kimmel, as one does, headed over to Ellen to clear it up: “I did an interview, and in it, the guy asked me, ‘Do you ever think about retiring?’ I said, ‘I still have three years on my contract, until 2020, and who knows after that. Maybe…’ I definitely didn’t say I was retiring. Then the next thing, online everyone is like, ‘Jimmy Kimmel is retiring.’”
After signing that 2020 contract, Kimmel locked himself into another three-year agreement, meaning that in 2022, the same questions surfaced again. Speaking to Variety last year, Kimmel said he has moments where he thinks, “I cannot do this anymore,” and “What am I gonna do with my life if I’m not doing this anymore?”
“Eventually, I am going to have to stop doing this,” he said. “I’m not going to do this forever. I would not be honest at all if I said that I have decided one way or the other. I’m thinking about it a lot, though.”
Kimmel re-signed with ABC for another three years in September of that year. Yeah, it doesn’t seem like he’s retiring any time soon, but he sure does like to talk about it, and who doesn’t? Retiring would be a stone groove that, unfortunately, 29% of Americans under 55 think they’ll never do. Ah, to have such champagne problems like seriously humoring the idea of retirement. Celebrities, they’re just like us.