"Yeah, it's fair game" - Jimmy Kimmel opens up about the criticism he has received for The Man Show

Jimmy Kimmel faced criticism after he poked fun at U.S. President Donald Trump. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Kimmel revealed the criticism he received and how problematic The Man Show is considered. He said:

“Yeah, it’s fair game.”

From 1999 until 2004, Jimmy Kimmel co-hosted the show The Man Show along with comedian Adam Carolla. The show's sexist comedy, gratuitous gags, and recurrent scenes of women leaping on trampolines- a period that many feel hasn't held up well made it notoriously vulgar. Trump supporters and other critics frequently utilize the show's reemerging internet footage to accuse Kimmel of hypocrisy due to his shifting political views and humorous style. Kimmel faced the reaction head-on rather than avoiding it.

He said:

"I think it's kind of funny, because the very people who are using those videos as an example of why I'm a horrible person were probably the biggest fans of the show at that time. We did the show a little tongue-in-cheek."

Jimmy Kimmel continued, claiming that fans who accepted the format of the show at its value missed a lot of humor. He said the show was intended to ridicule masculine supremacy rather than advance it.

" I mean, if you really watch the show, we are making fun of ourselves through almost the whole show. It was not meant to be taken literally that men are superior to women, but for some people, it was."

Jimmy Kimmel also likened the tone of the program to that of The Simpsons, claiming that it was intended to be "Homer Simpson-esque," a humorous critique of the stupidity of some gender stereotypes rather than a support for them. Still, he acknowledged that, particularly in the era of social media, it's common to take things out of context.

"It was meant to be Homer Simpson-esque. But you can pull things out of context and then they are taken literally. And that's just how it goes."

In an interview with New York Magazine in 2017, Kimmel went on to say:

"I look back at every show I've ever done and cringe. My vision of hell is a bunch of monitors with my old shows running on them. But yes, of course, and not necessarily for the reasons you think. I just think, 'Oh, we could've done that better.' It was a show people loved, and I got to work with Adam, which was a dream at the time, and we did a lot of funny stuff. We also did a lot of stupid stuff."

Talking about his growth, Jimmy Kimmel was quick to critique what he perceives as fake anger and a suffocating atmosphere in comedy. He feels that much of the current backlash against comedians is false and has unintended repercussions.

"I don't put limits on what I laugh at. But for me personally, as I've grown older, as I've matured, I won't make a joke that I wouldn't make if a person of that color or persuasion was in the room. That's how I look at it. I think a lot of the outrage is completely manufactured, and it's like, a lot of these people who are angry aren’t really angry. I think these liberals who've done such a good job of viciously attacking comedians are a big part of the reason why Trump is the president right now."

He went on to say:

"I just think human beings in general, when you see something that makes you laugh and you see a bunch of other people laughing, and then somebody steps in with their arms folded and goes, 'That's not funny, and here's why that's not funny,' it just doesn't give you a good feeling about a person. And you want to say to that person, 'Lighten up.' There's no black and white when it comes to comedy. There is no line. The line is different for every person. Dave Chappelle can say things that somebody else might not be able to. I don't think anybody should be canceled. I really don't."

Life after The Man Show

Jimmy Kimmel continues to host The Late Night Show. The show continues to feature interviews, musical performances, and comedy segments. Recent guests on the show were Luke Bryan, Minka Kelly, and musical bands like Dirty Honey.

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