Just a few weeks ago, the future of Jimmy Kimmel as a late-night talk show host was in question. He had been suspended from his self-titled show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! And whether he would ever come back was unknown. It was certainly a wild few days for Kimmel, but potentially not as crazy as the story of how he got the job in the first place. A situation that apparently had him stealing the job away from Jon Stewart.
In an appearance on the Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Kimmel told the story of how he got hired as the host of ABC’s first traditional late-night talk show. Kimmel credits producer Michael Davies, who had hired Kimmel to co-host Comedy Central game show Win Ben Stein’s Money, for suggesting him to ABC President Lloyd Braun. Kimmel added that Jon Stewart nearly had the job locked up when things changed. Kimmel said:
