Late night talk show host bites the hand that feeds him in front of advertisers
Late night talk show hosts are known for occasionally poking fun at their own networks, but Jimmy Kimmel eviscerated his employer, ABC, in a presentation to a group of potential network advertisers. In what the New York Times called a “Jerry Maguire-like moment of clarity,” Kimmel declared that everything the ad buyers are being told by the networks to sell shows is nonsense. “These new fall shows? We’re going to cancel about 90 per cent of them. Maybe more.” Kimmel also took a few swipes at rival networks, but seemed to save the real criticism for his own. He continued: “Every year we lie to you and every year you come back for more. You don’t need an upfront. You need therapy. We completely lie to you, and then you pass those lies onto your clients.” The New York Times reports that his speech was met by “uneasy laughs and the occasional gasp.” No kidding.