Jimmy Kimmel has expressed regret over apologising for a 2013 joke in which a child suggested killing everyone in China to solve the national debt. In a new interview with Vulture, the late-night host said he issued the apology under pressure from the Walt Disney Company, ABC's parent company. 'For the good of the Disney company, I took that bullet,' Kimmel said.
Kimmel, 58, has faced criticism for other past remarks, including blackface impressions of Oprah Winfrey and NBA player Karl Malone in the 1990s. He noted that he does not see apologies as defeats, drawing a parallel to Catholicism. However, he said he would resist apologising for something he believes does not cross a line, stating, 'I can't do this show if I'm going to be micromanaged.'
The host has repeatedly clashed with President Donald Trump, most recently over a joke about First Lady Melania Trump having the 'glow of an expectant widow' days before an attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Kimmel said Disney did not require an apology, only that he 'respond and move on.'
In his monologue, Kimmel argued the joke was misinterpreted as a call to violence, insisting it referenced the age difference between the Trumps. He added, 'It was not, by any stretch, a call to assassination.'
