Is Kimmel’s Pratt Assault Start of New Late-Night War?
Far-Left host uses personal attacks to slam candidate offering L.A. hope
Jimmy Kimmel honored longtime friend Adam Carolla this week, telling the world that their political differences mean nothing in the big picture.
That matters. And, sadly, it’s increasingly rare in our culture.
Good on Jimmy! (And, of course, he teared up in the process)
Jimmy Kimmel shares hilarious stories and gets emotional during Adam Carolla’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony:
“Adam and I, as you probably know, don’t agree much when it comes to politics, but I love him dearly. I have never worked with anyone funnier.” pic.twitter.com/JYtmpKiRHe
— Variety (@Variety) May 27, 2026
Kimmel then went out and used his broadcast TV pulpit to slam the man trying to bring sanity back to the City of Angels – Spencer Pratt.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” became the first late-night show to take on the upstart candidate head on. It’s surprising that Kimmel and co. have mostly held their fire up until this point.
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Pratt isn’t a traditional Republican. Nor does he mention ideology when promoting his efforts to replace L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. He still seeks to upend California’s Democratic dominance, and that’s a bridge too far for a progressive activist like Kimmel.
“Then you get a guy who is on a reality show, who’s on a lot of reality shows. His profession is to be the screaming jerk on reality shows, and his house burns down, and even though he had no private insurance on his house and doesn’t believe in climate change, he is understandably upset about his house burning down.”
What does his belief, or lack thereof, in climate change have to do with anything? Climate change didn’t start the fire.
This guy allegedly did.
“And since he’s a moderately famous person, he gets attention. He’s on the news, he’s on social media, and for the first time in his life, people are agreeing with what he has to say. It’s hard not to agree with what he has to say. He’s angry about the same problems a lot of people here are angry about.”
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OK. So did Mr. Truth to Power say anything about why Pratt is angry, or how local politicians let Angelenos down?
The answer would be, “no.”
“Does he have solutions to those problems? No. But at least he’s acknowledging that they are problems. So, then this angry reality show star, who grew up wealthy and popular and is not very wealthy or popular anymore, really starts to enjoy the attention. He starts to think, ‘You know, I should be mayor.’ Which is a statement that should make everyone laugh. But not everyone is laughing.”
It’s all misdirection and personal attacks.
There’s a simple way to clear things up. Invite Pratt on your program. Except Kimmel would never do that. He doesn’t air opposing views, let alone engage in fair debate.
Why? He’d be creamed if he did. And, mid-creaming, his audience would say, “hey, Kimmel’s guest has a point.” And Kimmel doesn’t play that way.
Will other talk show hosts follow Kimmel’s lead? Likely.
“The Tonight Show” may hold off, for now. Host Jimmy Fallon is the least partisan liberal on late-night TV, and he may not see a benefit to defending an indefensible politician like Bass.
Expect Seth Meyers, John Oliver and “The Daily Show” to attack Pratt sooner rather than later.
Jon Stewart recently mocked Pratt from a stand-up comedy stage, but he did so without his “Daily Show” team.
“One fire, one mudslide and you’re like, OK, just let the guy from ‘The Hills’ take over.”
Stewart may have given his late-night peers permission with that remark. Kimmel just took the bait.
Meanwhile, the same late-night hosts let Bass and co. off the hook for more than a year. They ignored her staying in Ghana when the California wildfires broke out and looked the other way as she allegedly downplayed a damning post-action report on the deadly blaze.
Kimmel might even cry, again, should Pratt stun the state and become L.A.’s next mayor. If so, he might want to ask someone, perhaps Carolla himself, why the results surprised him.
He might get closer to the truth than he’s been in some time.