When Jimmy Kimmel’s show was abruptly pulled from the air in September, neither he nor his wife, Molly McNearney, knew it was only a suspension. In fact, they initially feared that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was gone for good—and had to figure out how to explain that to their kids.
In a new joint interview on the podcast We Can Do Hard Things, the couple is opening up about how they broke the news at home.
“We had to do that thing that parents do so well, which is just immediately put on a mask,” said McNearney, who also serves as executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Eventually, Kimmel and McNearney realized they’d have to tell their children, lest they hear about it from other kids at school.
“We sat them down on the couch and we told them… And we realized in that moment that any other time we’ve sat them down to talk about something, I guess it’s been good,” McNearney continued, recalling how their daughter Jane expected the news to be something fun—like a trip to Disneyland.
But when Kimmel told them his show had been suspended, their kids’ reactions were surprisingly poignant. “Our daughter immediately burst into tears,” said McNearney. “And she said, ‘I’ll sell my Labubus.’”
After calming their daughter, the couple’s son, Billy, asked a particularly astute question. “Our son asked if the President had done this,” McNearney revealed. At the same time, Kimmel and McNearney both answered “yes.”
“It’s certainly not an experience I had with my family in Las Vegas,” Kimmel joked.
Kimmel added that some of his daughter’s sadness came from her belief that she’ll one day take over her father’s show. “We’ve never said this to her. We don’t know where she got [this idea]. She has three other siblings. Two of them are actually adults and would be more qualified to take over, if it was indeed a family business that you could hand down to your kid.”
Before wrapping up their talk, McNearney tried to put the moment in perspective for their kids. “It’s really important to remember this moment,” she recalled telling them. “Your dad and his show are on the right side of history. I want you to remember that.”
“And my daughter, very earnestly, paused,” McNearney recounted, “and she said, ‘I thought we were on the left.’”
While Kimmel and McNearney assured their children that everything would be fine, McNearney admits she wasn’t as hopeful in reality. “Jimmy and I really both believed that night the show was never coming back.”
The sit-down with their children wasn’t the only story the couple shared on We Can Do Hard Things. McNearney also revealed that Kimmel had a special guest in attendance the night his show was pulled off the air.
During a trip to Mexico, Kimmel had met a hotel waiter named Moises. After complimenting Moises to the hotel’s owner, the couple returned on a subsequent trip to find that Moises had been promoted to manager. Later, Kimmel wrote a letter in support of Moises’s work visa to come to the United States. Moises eventually obtained his visa—and had come to Jimmy Kimmel Live! that night to thank Kimmel in person.
When news of Kimmel’s suspension came down, JKL audience members were about to begin seating, only to be sent home without explanation.
Thank-you Jimmy Kimmel for standing up for your rights and everyone everyone else’s.
from Your friends and neighbors
❤🇨🇦❤🇨🇦❤🇨🇦
So after he lied about the assassin, claiming he was Maga, he then lied to his children about why he was suspended.
Your loser life sucks already, as is!
Wait till his kids hear about his routine black-face and doing skits about killing Hispanic women.
Will they cope having a KKK member as their father?
Kimmel will explain to them why he did that at the time, that what he did was wrong then as it’s wrong now, and has vowed not to do that again as he grows into a responsible adult!
Something a white trash MAGAt like you fails to comprehend, Mucky Boy!
Jimmy Kimmel was an adult when he did that racism, so, giving a simple sorry won’t cut it.
You can’t breed the racism away….it’s in his hateful genes and it probably passed down to his kids.
Social services should take away his kids from being raised in a KKK household.
Do something Governor Newscum!
Says a fuck of a lot about you, Mucky Boy! The Jimmy Kimmel from back then was much different from the one now. He grew up!
Whereas, you’re still the same ignorant immature mouth breathing loser who called the 44th US President “Obamababoon” as you project your racism onto others that call you out on this!
You seriously need to grow the fuck up, Mucky Boy! Start by going back to school and learn something for once in your life!
Now what lame, whiny response will Mucky Boy come up with next?
Then we’re in agreement.
People who call the fuck-face Obama as the Obamababoon and people who do black-face and do skits where they kill Latino women should not be hosting shows on ABC.
Hopefully, ABC will fire racist KKK Kimmel for his DNA-bred hatred,
Why should we allow Kimmel to apologize for his racist antics without punishment? Other people have done far less and have been cancelled….why shouldn’t Kimmel? Left-wing double standards.
The bigger issue is with his kids. They shouldn’t be allowed to be raised by KKKimmel and California should remove them from his racist hands asap.
You project your racism onto Kimmel. rather than take a good hard look at yourself! Your sad, pathetic loser life has you lashing out at people for the very things you do yourself, because you think your shit don’t stink, when in reality, you fucking reek of turds, bitchboy!
Is it any wonder everyone hates you fucking unintelligent racist guts, Mucky Boy?
I’m sure you’re waiting with baited breath for my response, like the loser you are! And I’m sure it’ll be the same stupid shit you keep posting, because you can’t think for yourself!
Projection? I didn’t do black-face and do skits where a Hispanic woman was killed.
That was Kimmel. Why are you defending KKKimmel so much? Are you Victor the KKK from Kanada?
That racist pussy hated Arsenio Hall for being a black TV host on late-night.
Your words say a lot about you! The fact that you’d call Barack Obama “Obamababoon” shows how racist you are! Calling the 44th President that is as bad as blackface!
At least Kimmel apologized for it, and everyone has moved on! But you! You Drumpf licking MAGA filth want it both way! You want to call black people the N-word without any blowback, because you think you’re vastly superior to them! You, an ignorant trailer trash loser!
No, Mucky Boy! There’s no way out of this mess for you, mainly because you’re dumber than a doorknob! You and your fellow ilk are hate filled bigots who are too stupid to be conversing with normal people!
Got a problem with that? I’m sure you’ll say something ignorant, as always! And I’ll be watching you as always, Mucky Boy, you racist loser!🖕😈🖕
jimmy is a talentless cry baby. He should go back to black face and womanizing. lol
Your mama birthed you out of your asshole! You should crawl back up Drumpf’s rectum, where you ilk all belong!🖕😈🖕
I wonder how Charlie Kirk’s kids felt when Jimmy criticized him after his murder.
Charlie Kirk is dead, and being violently tortured for all eternity in the Ninth Circle of Hell! No one was asking for him to be murdered, but no one with a conscience is sad he’s no longer trolling the earth.
Cope hard, bitch!