In a provocative holiday broadcast, American television host Jimmy Kimmel will declare 2025 as “a really great year for fascism” during Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message. The British network announced Kimmel’s selection following his highly publicized suspension from ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September after controversial remarks about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s shooting incident.
The suspension ignited intense debates about First Amendment rights and press freedom in the United States, culminating in Kimmel’s reinstatement after one week off air. Channel 4 described the upcoming address as “deeply personal and characteristically jovial” while noting it comes during a year dominated by US political coverage in global media.
Kimmel, who has been among former President Donald Trump’s most prominent critics throughout the past decade, will reflect on recent months including his return to broadcasting and widely reported criticisms of the current administration. The network has maintained tradition since 1993 by offering this counterprogramming to the monarch’s Christmas message broadcast on BBC One and ITV.
The suspension episode revealed extraordinary political pressures on media organizations, with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chaired by Trump appointee Brendan Carr threatening to revoke ABC’s broadcast license. President Trump publicly endorsed Kimmel’s removal and suggested multiple networks should lose their broadcasting privileges, with White House pressure contributing to the temporary cancellation.
Previous alternative message speakers have included diverse figures from entertainment and politics alike—Stephen Fry, Danny Dyer, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whistleblower Edward Snowden, and Afghan veteran Major Andrew Stockton among them. While Channel 4 released only the fascism remark as a preview, Kimmel is expected to maintain the reflective tone from his season finale where he acknowledged 2025 as “a strange year” and “a hard year” with particular personal significance.
The broadcast will air at 17:45 GMT on Christmas Day, strategically scheduled two hours after the King’s traditional message, positioning Kimmel’s commentary as both holiday entertainment and political statement within ongoing debates about media freedom and governmental influence over broadcast content.