Jimmy Kimmel fired back at former President Donald Trump who said Kimmel's late-night talk show is "dead."
Speaking to supporters at a rally over the weekend in Pennsylvania, Trump addressed comments Kimmel made during a recent interview about how cracking Trump jokes cost him some viewers.
"I saw Jimmy Kimmel say that his show is practically dead because nobody that likes Trump will watch. And guess what? That turned out to be a majority of the people — the show is dead and so are the other ones [late-night shows]," Trump said.
Kimmel told audiences of his show that his wife began receiving texts asking if they had seen Trump's rally.
"I got no texts. She got a lot of them," he said. "Turns out Fiberace gave me a shout-out during one of his blue-collar comedy tours. And I have to say, sometimes it feels like he doesn't like me that much."
Kimmel, who has been set for his third stint of hosting the Oscars, went on to reference Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump, who died over the summer at age 73 and was buried near the first green on Trump's course in Bedminster, New Jersey.
"Our show is so dead he's gonna bury it next to his ex-wife at one of his golf courses," Kimmel said.
"You know what's dead?" Kimmel continued. "I'll tell you what's dead. All those endangered animals your chinless son shot. That's what dead."
Kimmel took one last jab by noting that his show was about to mark its 20th anniversary.
"You got kicked out after four, OK?" he said. "I'm on television. You're on the toilet at your golf club screaming at yours."
Kimmel also cracked a joke about returning as host of the 95th Academy Awards on March 12.
"I've already started making a list of whose names I should keep out of my f-ing mouth. You know, you can't be too careful," he said. "And it's very flattering to be asked to do this."
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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