Jimmy Kimmel reflects on perseverance after a challenging year in his career.
Almost a month after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was renewed for another year, the longtime host shared what he learned most in 2025 while attending the 2026 Critics Choice Awards on Jan. 4.
“I learned a lot of lessons,” Kimmel shared E! News. “I guess, ‘stick to your guns.’ That’s the biggest lesson I learned last year.”
When Carp joked that he had developed both figurative and literal muscles, the comedian replied: “Well, I didn’t say that, but I have guns.”
Kimmel, 58, won Best Talk Show at the ceremony, capping a turbulent period. Last fall, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was briefly suspended after backlash for comments during a monologue.
The show returned to the air less than a week later and was later renewed.
Two months after that controversy, Kimmel faced a personal loss when his childhood best friend and longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III died at the age of 59. Kimmel paid tribute to him on Instagram, writing that they had “been inseparable since I was 9 years old.”
“Early this morning we lost a good friend, father, son, musician and husband, my longtime bandleader Cleto Escobedo III,” he wrote. “To say we are devastated is an understatement.”
As 2026 begins, Kimmel says he’s keeping expectations simple. Recalling a family conversation started by his wife, Molly McNearney, he said, “I have no intentions this year. I’m just going to keep going, that’s it.”
