Jimmy Kimmel has revealed that he has obtained Italian citizenship. Confirming the news in ‘The Sarah Silverman Podcast,’ the late-night host criticised the political climate in the US. Earlier this year, Italian news agency Ansa reported that Kimmel had secured citizenship after proving his ancestral lineage.
While discussing the current state of affairs, Silverman remarked on the growing trend of people considering alternative citizenships. “A lot of people I know are thinking about where they’re going to get citizenship,” she said. To which Kimmel responded, “I did get Italian citizenship.” He went on to express his deep concerns about the situation, adding, “What’s going on is as bad as you thought it was going to be. It’s even worse, unbelievable. I feel like it’s probably even worse than he would want it to be.”
How did Jimmy Kimmel obtain Italian citizenship?
In June, Kimmel shared details of his heritage at an Italian Republic Day event in Los Angeles. He told the audience that his grandfather’s parents had immigrated to New York from Ischia, an island off the coast of Naples, following a devastating earthquake in 1883 that claimed most of their family. Kimmel is one among the late-night hosts, including John Oliver, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert, who frequently use their platforms to criticise the Trump administration.
Celebrities who moved out of the US
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi relocated to the English countryside after finding a house that the former talk show host “loved.” The couple now resides in a farmhouse in the Cotswolds region.
Gabriel Macht and his family left the United States after ‘The Suits’ wrapped in 2019. Less than two weeks after the 2020 presidential election, Texas-born actress Eva Longoria revealed she had turned her back on the US, telling Marie Claire in an interview that she was “done” with life in “dystopian” America.
Hollywood icon and outspoken Trump critic Richard Gere made his plans to leave the US months before the election, announcing in Vanity Fair Spain in April 2024 that he and his wife, Alejandra, were relocating to Spain to be closer to her family.
America Ferrera moved to London in November, upset by Trump’s re-election. A source told Daily Mail that she was frustrated by Trump’s presidency, but Ferrera has made it clear that while she has moved to Europe for her children’s sake, she will continue to work and fight for Latinas.
When Donald Trump won his first election in 2016, Lena Dunham talked about moving to Canada. His second victory pushed her to actually relocate to England with her husband, Luis Felber. Though she didn’t mention him by name, Dunham has been vocal about her opposition to Trump’s politics, saying, “You don’t feel that you are being in any way hemmed in by other people’s perceptions,” according to TooFab.