Jimmy Kimmel’s wife, Molly McNearney, is torn about whether or not she wants him to walk away from his late-night talk show.
“It definitely appeals to me for the nervous system of the household,” the TV writer, 48, said during the Monday, August 24, episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast when asked for her thoughts on Kimmel’s potential retirement.
McNearney added, “I feel like Jimmy has a fly rod in one hand and a torch in the other right now. It’s like he deserves to go out there and just be on the river and relax, but I also want him to keep fighting. And I feel this sense of desire to not quit because I think what he’s doing is incredibly important right now. And yes, I know we’re doing it in a vacuum, but I think it’s giving people a feeling of like, their voice is heard, and I think it’s important. But as his wife, I really would like him to be able to not do the show anymore so he could relax.”
McNearney, who works on Jimmy Kimmel Live! as cohead writer and the executive producer, said she would be “good either way” when it comes to her own retirement from the talk show.
“I would be happy to be done with the show, end it in a great way and do my own next thing. But I do care deeply about that show and the people who work there,” she explained. “And I think the voice is really important right now.”
As for Kimmel, 58, the talk show host said he fears he would regret ending the show if he made that decision.
“I know people who’ve been in that situation,” he shared. “It’s funny, people make a big show of like, ‘I’m done and I’m tired doing this.’ And then they make a lesser comeback trying to do the same thing. That’s always a bummer. And I always look at that and go, ‘Oh, is that going to be me?’”
McNearney added that she is looking forward to reading the daily headlines with leisure after sending their kids to school, but she’ll also miss “reading with a purpose” and trying to pull news angles for the talk show. (McNearney and Kimmel have been married since July 2013 and share daughter Jane, 12, and son Billy, 9. The comedian is also a dad to daughter Katie, 34, and son Kevin, 32, from his marriage to ex Gina Maddy.)
Kimmel also said that he’s “never going to stop doing things” even if he decides to end his talk show.
The retirement chat comes nearly one year after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended for six days following Kimmel’s remarks about the September 2025 assassination of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk. (Kirk was fatally shot during a speaking engagement for his nonprofit organization, Turning Point USA, at Utah Valley University. He was 31.)
Kimmel, who initially criticized the political response to Kirk’s death, clarified his comments in an emotional monologue upon his return to the talk show.
“I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to do and say tonight, and the truth is, I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference,” he said. “If you like me, you like me, if you don’t, I have no illusions of changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human: It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
Kimmel added, “I posted a message on Instagram on the day [Charlie] was killed sending my love to his family asking for compassion, and I meant it and I still do. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was a deeply disturbed individual. That was actually the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
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