Arrivederci, America. Could ABC’s left-wing, late-night host Jimmy Kimmel be getting ready to utter that classic Italian farewell? Anything is possible after he revealed he now has citizenship for Italy as he mourned President Donald Trump’s triumphant return to the White House.
The 57-year-old made the revelation while appearing on ex-girlfriend Sarah Silverman’s podcast when she claimed some Americans who don’t approve of Trump have sought citizenship elsewhere.
“I do have… I did get Italian citizenship,” Kimmel revealed. “I do have that.”
Firmly anti-Trump Kimmel, who campaigned for Democrats in the 2024 election, continued: “What’s going on is… as bad as you thought it was gonna be, it’s so much worse. It’s just unbelievable. I feel like it’s probably even worse than [Trump] would like it to be.”
Kimmel said former Trump supporters who are reconsidering their position deserve support and affirmation rather than condemnation, saying: “There are a lot of people… now you see these clips of Joe Rogan saying: ‘Why’s he doing this? He shouldn’t be deporting people.’ People go: ‘F*** you, you supported him.’ I don’t buy into that. I don’t believe ‘F*** you, you supported him.’
“I think the door needs to stay open,” Kimmel said. “If you want to change your mind, that’s so hard to do. If you want to admit you were wrong, that’s so hard and so rare to do. You are welcome.”
Italian news agency Ansa records Kimmel obtained Italian citizenship after proving his family ties earlier this year. Kimmel’s maternal great-grandparents emigrated to New York from Naples after an earthquake devastated their hometown, Ischia, in 1883.
Kimmel is not alone in looking to self-deport.
Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres, who fled to Ireland and England respectively, have acted on that impulse.
Meanwhile after Late Show host Stephen Colbert’s show was canceled in July, Trump predicted Kimmel and fellow late-night host Jimmy Fallon would be “next” to go off the air and head for the exit.
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