Jimmy Kimmel says Trump battles cost ABC 'billions,' seeks handouts

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel says his ongoing battles with President Donald Trump have cost ABC and its parent company, the Walt Disney Company, "billions."

During his annual no-holds-barred stand-up routine at the Disney Upfronts for advertisers on May 12, Kimmel mocked his financial impact on the company, referring to events such as ABC's September suspension of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" under White House pressure.

"I cost our company a lot of money this year, billions. It is very possible that no employee in the history of any company has cost their employer more than hiring me 24 years ago," Kimmel said. "Just from a purely mathematical standpoint, I was the worst personnel decision that the Disney Corporation ever made. Not even the captain of the Exxon Valdez did more damage."

During his talk, Kimmel had his sidekick, Guillermo Rodriguez, wander among the wealthy advertisers with a collection basket seeking financial donations. (He received $7 and a tennis ball.)

The highly publicized White House battles have been beneficial for "Live!" ratings.

"Largely thanks to our partners in Washington, we are up 25% in viewers aged 18 to 49," said Kimmel, pointing to a key demographic. "It's a big deal for your numbers to go up nowadays. But if (legendary "Tonight Show" host) Johnny Carson woke up with my ratings, he'd have gone straight under the sink and chugged all the Drano he found there."

Kimmel, who the night before joined his fellow late-night hosts on the soon-to-be-canceled "Late Show With Stephen Colbert," said CBS was turning Colbert's time slot into a "leased" spot with Byron Allen's "Comics Unleashed."

"As in 'least' likely to offend the president with a rerun of 'Comics Unleashed' featuring Paula Poundstone and Andy Dick," said Kimmel. "Poor Stephen, it's bad enough to lose your job. Imagine getting replaced by the owner of the Weather Channel."

Kimmel lauded ABC's ratings rebound with "Dancing With the Stars," calling the reality ballroom show "hotter than your grandma's underpants."

But the comedian expressed hesitation to mock other struggling networks as he has in the past during the speech.

"Now we're like a bunch of dirty, starving chihuahuas under the table waiting for a chicken leg to drop," said Kimmel. "For the first time, I'm rooting for CBS."

One CBS show with ratings promise is the return of LL Cool J in a new "NCIS" franchise.

" 'NCIS: New York' answers the question, what if LL Cool J partnered with another white guy in another city?" said Kimmel, who also took aim at the upcoming "Einstein" drama featuring Albert Einstein's son (Matthew Gray Gubler) solving crimes.

"They were supposed to release that last year, but they pushed it back because they needed to figure out who the Einstein was who decided to make the show."