Jimmy Kimmel's wife and longtime collaborator, Molly McNearney, said she cut ties with several family members after learning they voted for then-candidate Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
McNearney, the head writer and executive producer of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!," discussed the fallout during an appearance on the "We Can Do Hard Things" podcast, saying she felt personally betrayed by relatives who supported Trump.
"I've sent many emails to my family, like right before the election, saying, 'I'm begging you. Here's the 10 reasons not to vote for this guy. Please don't.' And I either got ignored by 90% of them or got truly insane responses from a few," McNearney said.
She said she felt her relatives' votes were against her and her husband, who has been an outspoken critic of Trump.
"It hurts me so much because of the personal relationships I now have, where my husband is out there fighting this man, and to me, them voting for Trump is them not voting for my husband and me and our family. And I, unfortunately, have kind of lost relationships with people in my family because of it."
McNearney described being "angry all the time" with certain relatives who helped elect Trump, though she said she still feels "sympathy" for them, calling them "deliberately misinformed."
She added that her closest relationships now are with relatives who share her political outlook.
The podcast appearance came about two months after Kimmel's ABC late-night show was temporarily removed from the air following comments he made about the killing of conservative leader Charlie Kirk.
"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it," he said in his Sept. 15 monologue.
Kimmel's remarks prompted backlash from major ABC affiliates.
Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media, which own many of the network's local stations, announced they would stop airing Jimmy Kimmel's show.
ABC's parent company, Disney, suspended the show, calling Kimmel's comments "ill-timed and thus insensitive," according to USA Today.
Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
Authorities charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder and other related offenses in connection with the attack.
Kimmel returned to the air less than a week after his suspension.
In a statement at the time, Disney said, "We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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