Jimmy Kimmel said he was surprised to win best talk series at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards, but he still came equipped with a number of sharp barbs and a comically long written acceptance speech, which he unrolled onstage.
Kimmel quipped that he would have preferred a “FIFA peace prize,” referring to the award President Donald Trump received at the, now renamed, Kennedy Center during the World Cup draw last month.
After that, Kimmel unrolled a comedically long written acceptance speech as he said he “really didn’t expect this,” and thanked the critics, calling out three specific reviewers by name, including Jeffrey Howard from KCLV-TV in Las Vegas, whom Kimmel, a Sin City native, said he went to high school with.
He went on to thank “our friends at Disney,” naming CEO Bob Iger, entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden and even OpenAI boss Sam Altman, who, Kimmel said, “who now owns my voice and face. Please don’t do anything weird with it.”
Kimmel’s remarks about Altman appear to be a reference to Disney’s recent $1 billion investment in OpenAI that included striking a licensing deal with the Altman-run AI powerhouse. The latter agreement would allow users of OpenAI’s Sora to create clips using characters from the Marvel, Pixar and Star Wars franchises.
Kimmel was nominated alongside his late night competitors The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, Late Night With Seth Meyers, The Daily Show and Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen as well as YouTube’s Hot Ones. Kimmel joked that his fellow nominees, save Hot Ones‘ Sean Evans, who was shown onscreen laughing at Kimmel’s acceptance speech, “did not care enough to be here with you tonight.”
Of Evans, Kimmel joked that one day he’d be “the only one left.” Questions have emerged in recent months about the future of late-night TV after CBS canceled The Late Show for what the network claimed were financial reasons. Meanwhile, Trump has gone after Colbert, Kimmel and Meyers, saying they all should be taken off the air.
Kimmel’s win comes after ABC briefly suspended him this fall after he made comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer that led Trump’s FCC chair to threaten ABC affiliates’ licenses.
Since returning to the air, Kimmel and wife and co-head writer Molly McNearney, who joined Kimmel onstage Sunday night, have spoken out in support of free speech, and Kimmel took time on Sunday night to address the issue and Trump.
“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,” Kimmel said. “Your actions were important, and we appreciate them.”
He later added, “Most of all I wanna thank our president, Donald Jennifer Trump. Without whom, we’d be going home empty-handed tonight. 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 wait to get back on the air tomorrow night to talk about them.”