Jimmy Kimmel Labeled As ‘Out Of Touch’ Over Alternative Christmas Message

Jimmy Kimmel is closing out a headline-making year with a move that has already sparked intense backlash. The late-night talk show host recently announced a “deeply personal” Christmas message set to air in the United Kingdom that critics are calling “tone-deaf,” political, and wildly “out of touch.” The 58-year-old has been tapped to deliver Channel 4’s annual “Alternative Christmas Message,” the long-running counter-programming speech that airs opposite the BBC’s traditional Royal Christmas address from King Charles. While the segment is known for its provocative picks, Kimmel’s involvement and the reported content of his message have ignited outrage on both sides of the Atlantic.

According to Deadline, Kimmel’s address will reflect on 2025 in what’s being described as a “deeply personal” and “characteristically jovial” tone. However, early details about the message have already drawn criticism.

Kimmel is expected to remark, “From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year.”

The comment is reportedly tied to Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a development that has dominated global headlines throughout 2025. A Channel 4 spokesperson defended the choice, telling the outlet, “Donald Trump’s return to the White House and wide-ranging impact on the world has been the story of 2025, and it would be hard to think of a better person to address it than Jimmy Kimmel, who has found himself on the frontline of America’s battle over free speech.”

Despite Channel 4’s framing, many viewers were quick to slam the decision, accusing Kimmel of using a holiday moment to deliver an anti-Trump political lecture.

“Kimmel needs to be removed from public airways and go to cable. NO more of my tax dollars funding this bullsh-t. And I’d say the same if opposite for Biden,” one critic wrote on X (formerly Twitter), while others questioned why Kimmel continues to receive major platforms at all, with some saying they wished he had “stayed fired.”

That comment refers to Kimmel’s personal clashes with the Trump administration, including his brief suspension from ABC following comments he made about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk,  a moment that reportedly influenced the tone of his upcoming address.

Several other reactions focused on what critics see as Kimmel’s shift away from comedy and toward political commentary.

“There is no depths too how low the likes of @jimmykimmel will go to mislead those who are already mentally challenged, obviously Kimmel thinks we are not only stupid but blind as well,” one user wrote. “I remember comedians being funny and left politics to the pundits.”

Another critic went even further, accusing both Kimmel and British broadcasters of pushing an agenda, writing, “Jimmy Kimmel is an elitist out-of-touch, unfunny hack, and the biased BBC is propaganda.”

Others described the host as having lost perspective entirely. “Kimmel has gone so far off the deep end, he is just beyond ignorant now,” one post read, while another added, “Jimmy Kimmel is just like the biased RS, irrelevant and out of touch.”

The criticism surrounding Kimmel’s upcoming “Alternative Christmas Message “comes just days after the late-night host delivered an emotional on-air thank-you to his viewers, reflecting on what he described as a deeply difficult year.

Opening his monologue on Thursday with tears in his eyes, Kimmel acknowledged the challenges he faced throughout 2025. “This has been a strange year. It’s been a hard year,” Kimmel said. “We’ve had some lows. We’ve had some highs. For me, maybe more than any year of my life.”

Thursday marked Kimmel’s final new show of the year, closing out a turbulent period that included his suspension by ABC’s parent company Disney, public criticism from the president of the United States, and the unexpected death of his longtime friend and bandleader, Cleto Escobedo.

Addressing the audience directly, Kimmel credited viewers for helping him and his team push through. “On behalf of all of us at the show, I just want to say that we appreciate your support, your enthusiasm, and not just for watching this year, you literally pulled us out of a hole, and we cannot thank you enough,” he told the crowd.

Kimmel also acknowledged the emotional toll of the job itself.

“I know there are a lot harder jobs, but this is not an easy job to do, and sometimes it feels like we’re spinning our wheels,” he said. “You see so many awful and destructive acts, all this damage we inflict on ourselves on purpose, and it can make you feel crazy trying to wrap your head around these things that are so clearly wrong.”

As Christmas Day nears, viewers will ultimately have to wait and see whether Kimmel’s “Alternative Christmas Message” lands as a thoughtful reflection or further fuels the controversy already surrounding it.