Kimmel Announces Replacement Host As He Takes 2-Month Break

ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel is stepping away from “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for a two-month summer break, and his choice of guest hosts says plenty about the current state of late-night television.

Among those temporarily taking over the already left-leaning program is longtime President Donald Trump critic Rosie O’Donnell.

The move is another reminder of why so many Americans have abandoned the coastal late-night comedy class. What was once entertainment has increasingly become a predictable rotation of anti-Trump lectures, partisan applause lines, and celebrity politics packaged as humor.

Kimmel announced the hiatus during a recent episode and joked that he hoped President Trump “doesn’t do anything stupid” while he is gone.

Then, with the usual wink toward his liberal audience, Kimmel said he had arranged what he described as a “special treat for our commander-in-chief.”

“And, as a special treat for our commander-in-chief, I asked one of his all-time favorites, Rosie O’Donnell, to be here to keep the hits coming,” Kimmel said of the former View co-host and frequent Trump critic.

Guest hosts are expected to begin rotating during the week of July 6, with O’Donnell reportedly set to begin her stint around August 17.

O’Donnell’s selection fits the familiar formula. Rather than offering viewers something fresh, Kimmel is turning to another celebrity figure known for aggressive anti-conservative commentary and years of hostility toward Trump.

Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly ripped Kimmel’s guest-host lineup during the latest episode of her SiriusXM podcast, arguing that the show is relying on a predictable group of left-wing entertainers.

Kelly criticized the broader list of temporary hosts, which includes Tiffany Haddish, Colman Domingo, Ike Barinholtz, Anthony Anderson, and Jelly Roll.

“Jimmy Kimmel’s going on vacay for two months. Do you have a two-month vacay? Probably not. Do you have 30 acres in Martha’s Vineyard? Probably not… And guess who he has sub-hosting for him? It’s a litany of left-wing comedians, most of whom you don’t know very well because he’s worried about his job security,” Kelly said.

“So, he’s got to find people who are lesser than he is. Um, but none are more notable than the next person I’m going to show you, who actually gave an interview recently to Jim Acosta,” Kelly continued.

Kelly then played a clip of O’Donnell speaking with former CNN White House correspondent Jim Acosta, during which O’Donnell suggested Kamala Harris had actually beaten Trump in the 2024 election.

“And I think that we’re going to find all this out,” O’Donnell said.

“It’s going to come out. And I’m not the first person to say this. There are all these researchers who were saying it. I read it online again today,” O’Donnell added at the time.

Kelly mocked the obvious double standard surrounding election denial claims when they come from the left.

“I was told by some reliable sources that election denialism is wrong and basically makes you an insurrectionist or a supporter,” Kelly said.

“We have real questions about whether Rosie will be offering bits like this speculative questioning she gave to us a year or so ago,” the former Fox News journalist said.

“Wonder if she’s going to be bringing this up to Jimmy’s audience, which is ever dwindling,” Kelly added.

Kelly also ridiculed O’Donnell over a recent personal update involving a cold sore, saying, “So, MAGA gave her herpes, and now she’s guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel. Uh, note to the guests, don’t get too close. Do not do the hello kiss when you arrive on stage.”

O’Donnell moved to Ireland in January 2025 after Trump’s re-election, though she has returned to the United States several times in recent months to visit family and attend the 2026 Tony Awards.

She is expected to take over hosting duties beginning August 17, with Kimmel returning in early September.

For conservatives, the story is not merely that Kimmel is taking a long vacation. It is that late-night television continues to prove how ideologically narrow it has become.

Instead of using the summer rotation to bring in a mix of voices, challenge the format, or broaden the audience, Kimmel is leaning into the same anti-Trump celebrity ecosystem that has helped make late-night feel stale, predictable, and politically one-sided.

Millions of viewers have already tuned out because they know the script before the monologue begins.

Trump is the punchline. Conservatives are the villains. The audience is expected to applaud.

By handing the desk to Rosie O’Donnell, Kimmel is not changing that formula.

He is doubling down on it.