The 31st edition of the Critics Choice Awards show took place on January 4, 2026 in Santa Monica at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport. The award show saw Jimmy Kimmel cinch the title of Best Talk Show as the host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live! which has aired on ABC since 2003. The talk show host mockingly ‘thanked’ US president Donald Trump as he took to the mic to accept the honour.
Kimmel has been a vocal critic of the US President since his first term in office and his condemnation of Trump’s actions and policies have also landed him in hot waters before. However, he remains undeterred and his acceptance speech roasting Donald ‘Jennifer’ Trump is proof of that.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for all the many ridiculous things you do…”
As he took to the mic while receiving the reward, Kimmel expressed his gratitude towards all the celebrities and supporters who rallied behind him as Jimmy Kimmel Live! was temporarily taken off air following complaints regarding a segment where the host had discussed Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter. Donald Trump was one of the many conservative personalities, and perhaps the most important once, who openly celebrated this decision.
“Thanks to all the writers and actors and producers and union members, many of you who are in this room, who supported us, who really stepped forward us and reminded us that we do not take free speech for granted in this city or in this country,” he said on January 4. “Your actions were important, and we appreciate them.”
Kimmel, known for his wicked sense of humour and fearless ability to criticize those in power, then humourously pulled out an absurdly long sheet of paper which led the audience to break out in laughter. As he read out the lines, he began by thanking Donald Trump without whom the Kimmel team would have gone back “empty-handed.
“And most of all, I want to thank our president, Donald Jennifer Trump, without whom, we would be going home empty-handed tonight,” He said. “So thank you, Mr. President, for all the many ridiculous things you do each and every day. It’s been a banner couple of weeks, and we can’t get wait to get back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them. Thank you, everyone,” he added.
Why Jimmy Kimmel Live! went off air and Donald Trump’s reaction
The unprecedented suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September 2025 stemmed from a controversial monologue regarding the death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. Kimmel drew intense fire after suggesting that the “MAGA gang” was attempting to politically capitalize on the tragedy and implied that the suspected shooter might have been a “pro-Trump Republican.”
These comments triggered an immediate regulatory and corporate domino effect. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly condemned the remarks as “truly sick,” leading major affiliate groups like Nexstar and Sinclair to preemptively pull the show from their stations, eventually forcing ABC to suspend the program indefinitely.
Donald Trump, a long-standing target of Kimmel’s late-night barbs, wasted no time in celebrating the network’s decision. Taking to Truth Social, the President hailed the suspension as a victory for the country and a just consequence for what he described as a lack of talent and poor viewership. He wrote:
“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.”
Trump continued his victory lap during a subsequent news conference, dismissing concerns that the suspension was an attack on the First Amendment. “You can call that free speech or not,” Trump told reporters. “He was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman.” While the show eventually returned to air on September 23, 2025, following massive pushback from Hollywood unions and free-speech advocates, the friction between the White House and the late-night host clearly remains at a boiling point.