Jimmy Kimmel says he was "intent on retiring" prior to Hollywood strikes

Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel revealed he had plans to retire from late-night TV before the writers' strike started in Hollywood.

On the debut episode of his new Spotify podcast 'Strike Force Five', Jimmy claimed he was was ready to say goodbye to his ABC's late-night talk show host stint earlier this year, but the Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers strike changed his perspective, US-based news outlet Variety reported.

"I was very intent on retiring right around the time where the strike started. And now, I realize, Oh yeah, it's kind of nice to work," Kimmel said on the premiere episode, which went live on Wednesday, featuring a roundtable Zoom discussion among Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver.

Meyers chimed in with, "Kimmel, c'mon, you are the Tom Brady of late night, you have feigned retirement." But Kimmel insisted that he was serious about retiring: "I was serious, I was very, very serious. Kimmel also said he usually takes the summer off but in past years, he's gotten paid."

TV and film writers in the Writers Guild of America went on strike in May after the union was unable to come to a new contract agreement with the Hollywood studios and streamers, as per CNN.

As a result, the late-night shows, which rely on writers for monologues and comedy bits all went dark in May. SAG-AFTRA, the union representing 160,000 actors and performers, went on strike in July after they too were unable to reach a new contract agreement with major studios. Wages, streaming residuals and AI usage remain central issues in the stalemate.

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