Jimmy Kimmel Responds to Critics Who Resurface ‘Man Show’ Clips to Call Him a “Hypocrite”
The day after the 2024 election, Jimmy Kimmel was on the verge of tears on his eponymous late-night show as the host, who just earlier in the week had urged his audience to “move on already” from Donald Trump, as he reacted to the news that Trump had won a second term.
“It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hard-working immigrants who make this country go,” Kimmel said, getting emotional. “For health care, for our climate, for scientists, for journalists, for justice, for free speech. It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on Social Security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO and democracy and decency. It was a terrible night for everyone who voted against him and guess what? It was a bad night for everyone who voted for him, too, you just don’t realize it yet.”
The next morning, Kimmel was trending on social media. Among those reacting to his monologue were users who were quick to highlight his past of co-hosting Comedy Central’s The Man Show, suggesting he was being a hypocrite for his post-election remarks.
The not-so-progressive show, which Kimmel co-hosted with Adam Carolla and on it once proclaimed was about “a joyous celebration of chauvinism,” has received increased scrutiny in recent years, particularly in the wake of the #MeToo movement, with its airing of women on trampolines or Kimmel ogling them or asking “What’s in my pocket.”
The clips have become an easy way for those who take issue with his more progressive remarks on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to cry hypocrisy.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Kimmel says it’s “fair game” for Trump’s “defenders” to post those clips and call him a hypocrite.
“I think it’s kind of funny, because the very people who are using those videos as an example of why I’m a horrible person were probably the biggest fans of the show at that time,” Kimmel said. “We did the show a little tongue-in-cheek. I mean, if you really watch the show, we are making fun of ourselves through almost the whole show. It was not meant to be taken literally that men are superior to women, but for some people, it was. … But you can pull things out of context and then they are taken literally. And that’s just how it goes.”
Kimmel has cited The Man Show‘s “tongue-in-cheek” nature in the past.
In 2018 when backlash against The Man Show surfaced in wake of the #MeToo movement and Fox News host Sean Hannity played Man Show sketches on his show to call out what he called Kimmel’s “unrelenting hypocrisy” after the late-night host criticized first lady Melania Trump, Kimmel said he didn’t view the show differently now than he did when it was airing.
“That show was always tongue in cheek. And some people enjoyed it for the wrong reasons,” he said. “But I think you can put a lot of shows into that category. And it was a show that people liked and we had fun doing it and I learned a lot doing it.
“As the show went on, we refined it. The reason we left that show was because there was a specific day on which Adam [Carolla] and I looked at each other and said, ‘It’s time to end this show,’” he recalled. “Adam was talking about the dad of one of his friends. And he was talking about what an idiot this guy was. This guy would say, ‘Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one.’ And Adam said that intending to illustrate how dumb this guy was and instead our studio audience laughed.”
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2011, Kimmel said of the decision to end The Man Show, “The studio audience had become so unruly. I mean, really we got to the point where all they wanted to see were girls in bikinis and they were just screaming and yelling,” he said. “It would be like a tailgate for a college football game to get into the audience. There were lines around the block to get into the studio, and guys would be out there drinking all day long.”
Kimmel even points out in his Rolling Stone interview that he “cried on The Man Show.”
“I just have a hard time keeping my emotions within,” he said. “My father is like that. And honestly, it’s embarrassing to me. And I know a lot of the women that work here would be like, ‘Oh, I think it’s great. It shows a good side of you.’ But if I could turn it off, I would.”
Elaborating on his emotional response to Trump’s election to a second term, Kimmel said, “I try to attach these events to real people, and that’s what I did after the election, and I just know how much misery is in store for so many people and how unnecessary it is. I mean, we had plenty of problems before him. The idea that we’ve now created a whole new set of problems seems so counterproductive, and it’s just disheartening. It overwhelms me, just thinking about the realities; it can hit me pretty hard.”
Kimmel, who in 2020 apologized for donning blackface to impersonate Karl Malone in the ’90s, included in a resurfaced Man Show sketch, went on to explain that he’s “matured” with his comedy as he’s gotten older.
“I won’t make a joke that I wouldn’t make if a person of that color or persuasion was in the room,” he said.
He added, “There’s no black and white when it comes to comedy. There is no line. The line is different for every person. Dave Chappelle can say things that somebody else might not be able to. I don’t think anybody should be canceled. I really don’t.”
In 2019, Kimmel, when asked by Bravo’s Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live, if The Man Show could air or thrive on TV now, said, “I think not only would it be possible, I think it would be more popular than it ever was,” adding, “there’s a certain portion of society that is outraged — behind the outrage — and I think they would probably find it to be exhilarating.”
