ABC Fired Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert?

“Their spark has faded, but their disease of wokeism has not,” one commenter wrote on Facebook.

On Feb. 25, 2024, Esspots.com published an article [archived here] positing that late-night TV hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert were fired by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

The article began:

Breaking: ABC Fires Stephen Colbert Along with Jimmy Kimmel, “They Both Lost Their Touch”

In an unprecedented move that has sent shockwaves through the entertainment world, ABC has announced the termination of two of its most renowned late-night hosts, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel, citing a decline in their ability to resonate with audiences. This bold decision marks a significant turning point for the network and the late-night television landscape as a whole, stirring up a mix of reactions from industry insiders, fans, and critics alike.

The claim made its way to the Esspots Facebook page, SpaceX Fanclub, where it went viral with more than 11,000 reactions and 6,000 comments, as of this writing. “Their spark has faded, but their disease of wokeism has not,” one of the top comments read.

This item was not a factual recounting of real-life events. Esspots.com describes its output as being humorous or satirical in nature, as follows:

Welcome to Esspots.com, a website that specializes in satire, parody, and humor. Before you proceed to read our content, we would like to emphasize that nothing on this website is real. All of the articles, stories, and commentary found on Esspots.com are entirely fictitious and created for the purpose of entertainment only.

In addition, Colbert’s show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, is a CBS production, not ABC.

If ABC did fire Jimmy Kimmel, major news sources would have reported the news. As of this writing, the latest video – titled This Week in Unnecessary Censorship – published by Jimmy Kimmel Live! was posted on March 4, 2024.

Jimmy Kimmel Hints ‘This Is My Final Contract’ as Possible End to His Long-Running Talk Show Looms

Kimmel is considering his future after 21 years on air, admitting that every spring he thinks he might call it a day on late night — but then, after a little time away, starts to “miss the fun stuff”

PHOTO: RANDY HOLMES/DISNEY VIA GETTY

Jimmy Kimmel is considering moving on from late-night TV.

The television host, 56, confessed that he’s been thinking about leaving his hosting gig on Jimmy Kimmel Live after his latest contract with ABC ends.

“I think this is my final contract,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I hate to even say it, because everyone’s laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case.”

“I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good,” he added. “That seems like enough.”

Jimmy Kimmel Reveals the Delicious 56th Birthday Present He ‘Prayed For’

Jimmy Kimmel sits while shooting ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live.’.RANDY HOLMES / ABC VIA GETTY

The comedian recently shared on the Strike Force Five podcast co-hosted by Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver during the writer’s strike, that he’d considered leaving before.

He told the L.A. Times that the thought also crossed his mind while preparing for his hosting gig at the Academy Awards in March. “Wednesday night, I was very tired and I had all these scripts to go through — I had to revise and rewrite all these pitch ideas for the Oscars — and I was literally nodding off onto my computer,” he recalled. “In those moments, I think, ‘I cannot wait until my contract is over.’”

He continued, “It’s hard to yearn for it when you’re doing it.” But he also admitted that he goes back and forth because, “then, I take the summer off or I go on strike, and you start going, ‘Yeah, I miss the fun stuff.’”

PEOPLE has reached out to a rep for Kimmel.

Jimmy Kimmel Reveals He Didn’t Think He’d ‘Ever’ Return as Oscars Host — and How Barbie Made Him Reconsider

Jimmy Kimmel chats with Timothee Chalamet on his show.RANDY HOLMES / DISNEY VIA GETTY

As for what he would possibly do if he decided to retire from his late-night hosting gig, Kimmel joked that he might learn “Italian” or how to play the harmonica and go fly-fishing, among other things.

“[The future Kimmel is] very busy — it’s funny, whenever I think of what I’m going to do when I stop working, it all involves more work,” he said.

Jimmy Kimmel Says He Felt ‘Lucky’ to Grow Up in Las Vegas Even Though Some People Thought It Was ‘Weird’ (Exclusive)

Kimmel then went on to admit that he doesn’t “know exactly what I will do,” but there are still a lot of things he wants to accomplish.

“It might not be anything that anyone other than me is aware of,” he said. “I have a lot of hobbies — I love to cook, I love to draw, I imagine myself learning to do sculptures.”

“I know that when I die, if I’m fortunate enough to die on my own terms in my own bed, I’m going to think, ‘Oh, I was never able to get to this, and I was never able to get to that,’” he continued. “I just know it about myself.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live with Will Arnett Lamorne Morris.RANDY HOLMES/DISNEY VIA GETTY