Jimmy Kimmel is back in the news as he takes over the Oscar Awards for the third time. Kimmel kicked off his opening monologue with some jabs and jokes, but the one that got people talking about the host was his take on last year's slap gate. "If anyone in this theater commits an act of violence at any point during the show, you will be awarded the Oscar for best actor and permitted to give a 19-minute long speech," Jimmy said, referring to Will Smith's win and prolonged speech after he slapped Chris Rock.
Best known for hosting the eponymous Jimmy Kimmel Live, he is, hands down, one of the most accomplished figures of late-night shows in America. Kimmel, 55, got his breakthrough in the game show Win Ben Stein's Money, where he played a comedic counterpart to Ben Stein. More success followed Jimmy with The Man Show, which he co-hosted from 1999 to 2003 before landing his titular late-night show with ABC in 2003.
Inside Jimmy Kimmel's Married Life!
If you liked Jimmy's skewering humor about the last year's Oscar fallout, you have the host and his writing team, which also includes Kimmel's wife, to thank for. The Emmy-winning host's wife, Molly McNearny, revealed how her husband went easy on Smith in his monologue. "I cannot tell you how many Will Smith jokes we had that then we got rid of," McNearny said, adding, "we think that only the best for that room made it." McNearny, 45, has been behind Kimmel's success and his witty divulgence for a while now.
The pair met on the sets of Jimmy Kimmel Live, where the show's executive producer introduced Molly to Jimmy. Molly, who's now the co-head writer, and executive producer of the show, recalls how her first-time meeting with Jimmy didn't give her a good impression of the host. "When I first met him, he insulted me," the writer says while dishing on the memory. Both Kimmel and Molly were seeing other people at the time.
A workplace romance between the host and the writer ensued after Molly's six-year-long tenure in the show. Many couples may not pinpoint the exact moment they fell for their other halves, but in Molly's case, she recounts the bit vividly when a cupid struck her. The producer revealed how the late-night host's cooking skills won her over. "We really liked each other as friends, and then it just kind of turned. He cooked for me, and that was it. It sealed the deal," Molly shared.
The pair had a star-studded wedding on July 13, 2013, in Ojai, California, and the A-list guests included Ben Affleck, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Jennifer Aniston, and more. The pair welcomed their first kid, Kimmel's third, daughter Jane, in July 2014, and their son Billy in April 2017. Jimmy and his wife suffered great distress when they found their youngest was born with a rare congenital heart defect. The couple's son, Billy, had to undergo open-heart surgery a few days after the birth.
"Poor kid. Not only did he get a bad heart, but he also got my face," the host said in an emotional, yet still funny monologue. Kimmel recently gave a sweet shoutout to his wife on her 45th birthday. "On this birthday, raise many many glasses to a woman who endures the unimaginable, married to me @MMcNearney," the Jimmy Kimmel Live host wrote alongside a hilarious picture of his wife.
The Truth About Jimmy Kimmel's First Marriage!
Kimmel has been a married man for most of his life. Before finding his happily ever after with Molly, the host/writer was married to Gina Maddy, who he met at Arizona State University. The pair tied the knot in 1988, just when Jimmy was gearing up to venture into a career in radio and television. Gina was with Kimmel through his early success. The couple welcomed two kids, Katie, an artist, and Kevin, an actor, before splitting ways in 2003 after fourteen years as spouses.
There have been many rumors surrounding Kimmel's first marriage, one of which states that the couple's relationship fell apart because of Jimmy's infidelity. Before the host's marriage with Gina was dissolved in 2003, Kimmel was linked with comedian Sarah Silverman, who he started dating openly at the heels of his divorce from Maddy. Kimmel's illicit romance with Silverman was even described as "one of the worst-kept open secrets in Hollywood."
Jimmy and Kimmel dated for seven years before going their separate ways in 2009, which was when he started dating Molly. Despite the murky stories about their dissolved relationship, the Emmy-winning host continues to keep an amicable bond with his ex-wife, who is reportedly dating a man named Chris Jones for the last eighteen years.
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