Jimmy Kimmel says he was "intent on retiring" prior to Hollywood strikes

Jimmy Kimmel revealed he had plans to retire from late-night TV before the writers’ strike started in Hollywood. On the debut episode of his new Spotify podcast Strike Force Five, Jimmy claimed he was ready to say goodbye to his ABC’s late-night talk show host stint earlier this year, but the Writers Guild of America writers’ strike changed his perspective. “I was intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started. And now, I realise, Oh yeah, it’s kind of nice to work,” Kimmel said on the premiere episode, which went live on Wednesday, featuring a roundtable Zoom discussion among Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver.

Meyers chimed in with, “Kimmel, c’mon, you are the Tom Brady of late night, you have feigned retirement.” But Kimmel insisted that he was serious about retiring, “I was serious, I was very, very serious. Kimmel also said he usually takes the summer off but in past years, he’s gotten paid.