When Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to the air after a storm of controversy, few could have predicted what would happen next. The late-night show — temporarily suspended by Disney after Kimmel’s fiery remarks about right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s death — didn’t just bounce back. It erupted.

And not just on TV.

While traditional ratings surged, it’s YouTube that’s exploding with views — rewriting what a late-night comeback looks like in 2025.

🔥 “IT WAS A HUGE MOMENT” — AND THEN THE INTERNET WENT WILD

At the MIA Market in Rome, Luca Forlin, YouTube’s Head of Business Strategy for EMEA, couldn’t hide his astonishment. Speaking to media execs, he revealed that even though Jimmy Kimmel Live! had seen a ratings spike after its suspension, the real audience tsunami was happening online.

“It was a huge moment,” Forlin said. “He had a huge audience spike — but even that spike on linear [TV] paled in comparison to what YouTube gained.”

That “multiplier effect” — four, five, even ten times the traditional viewership — became undeniable proof of how the internet has devoured late-night television’s old-school dominance.

According to Deadline, Kimmel’s long-awaited return episode pulled 6.5 million live and same-day viewers on ABC. Sounds impressive — until you check YouTube.

That same night’s monologue?
👉 22 million views.

Yes, you read that right. Twenty-two million — and counting.

⚡FROM SUSPENSION TO SENSATION: THE DISNEY BACKFIRE?

Just weeks earlier, Disney — ABC’s parent company — had pulled the plug on Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the host’s biting comments about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s death sparked outrage.

It was a decision that drew both applause and fury online. But when the suspension was quietly lifted less than a week later, Kimmel didn’t return humbled — he returned fired up.

His comeback monologue dropped like a cultural grenade, equal parts defiant and self-aware. By the next morning, clips were spreading faster than wildfire across social platforms, even reaching corners of the internet that rarely tuned in to late-night TV.

It was proof that controversy — the very thing that nearly ended Kimmel’s show — had become his greatest publicity weapon.

💻 “4X, 5X, 6X, 10X” — HOW YOUTUBE TURNED A SCANDAL INTO A SUCCESS STORY

As Forlin explained, Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s digital dominance isn’t a fluke. It’s a sign of a changing media era — one where audiences no longer wait for 11:35 p.m.

“They come when they want, how they want, and they share it endlessly,” said one industry insider. “And Kimmel? He just became the poster child for that shift.”

By the following night, September 24, Kimmel’s second monologue had already crossed 8.6 million views, dwarfing his own TV numbers yet again.

And those weren’t isolated hits. In the days that followed, fans who couldn’t even access the show on their local TV stations — thanks to delays from Sinclair and Nexstar affiliates — turned to YouTube instead.

What they found was Kimmel at his most unfiltered, his most defiant — and, ironically, his most watched ever.

🎯 “I BEAT TRUMP BY 16 POINTS!” — KIMMEL’S FIRE-FUELED MONOLOGUES KEEP COMING

Once back behind the desk, Kimmel wasted no time reigniting his trademark mix of humor and heat.

On October 6, he took direct aim at his favorite rival — Donald Trump — after a new YouGov poll showed Kimmel ranking higher in popularity.

“You remember the guy who keeps saying I have no ratings?” he quipped. “Well, that makes two of us.”

He went on:

“They polled over a thousand people, and I lead Trump by sixteen points. I’m at plus three — he’s at minus thirteen. I mean, I’m not a convicted felon, a friend of Jeffrey Epstein, or someone who paid off a porn star… so shouldn’t my rating be even higher?”

The crowd roared — and so did the internet. That night’s monologue alone racked up 3.7 million YouTube views within 24 hours.

Kimmel then threw another punch, reading aloud a smug statement from Trump’s press team claiming “overwhelming support” for the former president. His response? Vintage Kimmel.

“You know what else is sad?” he asked with a smirk. “That the President of the United States has a lower approval rating than Diddy and diarrhea.”

Cue the laughter. Cue the clicks. Cue another viral moment.

📈 FROM LATE-NIGHT TO LIVESTREAM LEGEND

The irony couldn’t be sharper. Disney’s attempt to cool down controversy had instead supercharged it.

Every jab, every joke, every monologue since the suspension has turned into YouTube gold — from 2.5 million hits on his October 7 opener to record-breaking streams across social media.

It’s no longer just Jimmy Kimmel Live! — it’s Jimmy Kimmel Everywhere.

Even industry veterans are calling it “a digital revolution in real time.” The lines between TV and online streaming aren’t just blurred — they’re gone.

And in that space, Kimmel has done what few late-night hosts have ever achieved: turn backlash into a brand boost.

🌪️ THE TAKEAWAY: CANCEL HIM? HE’LL JUST GO VIRAL.

In the end, Jimmy Kimmel’s saga might go down as one of entertainment’s greatest paradoxes — a scandal that became a strategy, a suspension that became a surge.

Whether you love him or loathe him, one thing’s certain: you can’t ignore him.

Disney might have hit the brakes. But YouTube?
YouTube hit record.

And for Jimmy Kimmel, that’s all the proof he needs that in 2025, the real late-night show isn’t on TV anymore —
…it’s on your phone. 📱🔥