Longtime TV talkshow host and personality Jimmy Kimmel has revealed that he had plans to retire before the ongoing Writers Guild Of America (WGA) strike took place.
Speaking on the newly launched Strike Force Five podcast on Spotify – featuring Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver – Kimmel spoke of his initial plans to retire from hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this year, though his perspective on the matter has since changed due to the ongoing writers’ strike.
“I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started,” Kimmel said on the premiere episode of the Strike Force Five podcast. “And now, I realize, Oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work.”
Seth Meyers quipped in response: “Kimmel, c’mon, you are the Tom Brady of late night… you have feigned retirement.” However, Kimmel insisted that he was serious about retiring: “I was serious, I was very, very serious.”
In early May, the WGA announced that it was going on strike; Hollywood’s first in 15 years. The WGA West’s Board of Directors and WGA East’s Council voted unanimously to call a strike – the first since 2007 – according to a social media statement by WGA West. The strike took effect fron 12:01AM PDT, Tuesday May 2 (6PM May 2 BST).
The strike came after six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony under the umbrella of the Californian trade association the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Shortly after the writers’ strike was announced, it was revealed that Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers were personally paying their writers during the striking period in support of the cause.
The newly launched Strike Force Five podcast aims to support the striking writers as well, with proceeds from the show going to staff members from each of the hosts’ own late night programming.
In July, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) announced that it would being joining WGA’s strike, marking the first time that both unions have gone on strike together for the first time since 1960.
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