Jimmy Kimmel reveals his previous plan before the Hollywood strike.
Talking about his new Spotify podcast Strike Group Five with Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver, 55-year-old Kimmel revealed that he is ready to take his Jimmy Kimmel Live! hosting shoes around the start of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike in May.
“I was very intent on retiring right around the time the strike started,” Kimmel told his co-hosts on Wednesday. “And now I realize, oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work.” Kimmel is the host and executive producer Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which he has hosted since 2003.
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He added: “When you work you think about not working.”
Meyers, 49, chimed in and asked, “Kimmel, come on, you’re Tom Brady late at night … you faked retirement … Are we going to take your word for it?”
Kimmel replied, “I was serious, I was very, very serious.” The comedian also admitted that he prefers to have summers off when he is paid for his time off.
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The WGA, which has been on strike since May 2 over issues such as better wages, limits on artificial intelligence (AI) and increased residuals, represents more than 1,000 writers in television, film, news and online media. Furthermore, the union went on strike after the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to reach an agreed contract with them on May 1.
This resulted in the production of late-night shows, such as Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Seth Meyers and Daily showstop and broadcast replays instead.
On Tuesday, Fallon, 48, Meyers, Colbert, 59, Oliver, 46, and Kimmel announced the launch of their limited series, which follows the hosts as they navigate “the highs and lows of Hollywood and beyond.”
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Presented by Mint Mobile and Diageo, the comedians will take turns to host conversations in each of the expected 12 episodes. Profits will also go to any out-of-work employees working on the late-night shows.
“I love writing. I love writing for TV. I love writing this show,” Fallon said on his show before the WGA strike went into effect. “I like that we come in with an idea of what we want to do every day and we work on it all afternoon, and then I have the pleasure of coming here.”
“No one has the right to work in show business,” he added. “But those people who have a job, have the right to fair compensation. They have the right to earn a living. I think that’s a very reasonable request for the guild to make. And I support those demands”.
Many movie and TV stars have expressed their support for the WGA strike. Cynthia Nixon, Pete Davidson and Wanda Sykes are just some of the famous faces seen holding “Writers Guild of America on Strike” signs.
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In July, SAG-AFTRA — a union made up of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — announced its own strike after failed contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
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Source: HIS Education