“Tyranny Is Booming”: Jimmy Kimmel issues stark warning during Channel 4 Christmas message

US late night host Jimmy Kimmel took part in Channel 4's annual Alternative Christmas Message and used his slot to issue a dire, political warning to British viewers about what he claims is an impending danger involving democracy and free speech in the US.

Kimmel, 58, was named as the guest speaker for the long-running broadcast in five years’ time which is known to provide an alternative to the Christmas address of the UK monarch.

In comments that aired on Christmas Day, Kimmel warned that “tyranny is flourishing” in America and noted that government overreach and censorship do not exist solely within authoritarian foreign regimes.

Here's the video of Jimmy Kimmel's Alternative Christmas Message on the UK's Channel 4 pic.twitter.com/gYQqT8ZZNy

— LateNighter (@latenightercom) December 25, 2025

In a harsh statement, Kimmel made allusion to his late-night show under fire in recent days. which ABC put on an indefinite hiatus earlier this year due to the comments he made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The show was back on the air in less than a week after extensive pushback from other entertainers, free speech activists and viewers.

Jimmy Kimmel said the suspension was politically motivated, and not based on editorial standards.

He claimed that the Donald Trump administration had tried to punish him for his vocal opposition to the president.

"The American government made a threat against me and the company I work for, and all of a sudden we were off the air," he stated.

Jimmy Kimmel talks about free speech and censorship

Jimmy Kimmel thanked public protest for the programme’s return, which he said was a “September Christmas miracle”. It, he said, drew people in regardless of their political orientation, even those who don’t like his show, in defense of free speech.

“We won, the President lost,” Kimmel announced, adding that the experience only made him more willing to call out those in power. 

"People who never watched my show, people who were on record saying they hate my show spoke out, they marched, they did this all to support the right to a free expression of speech. And because so many people spoke out, we came back. Our show came back stronger than ever," he remarked.

Jimmy Kimmel fought back tears during his final show of 2025 as he thanked fans for getting him through "a hard year": "I’m crying already, I’m sorry."

“This has been a strange year. It’s been a hard year. We’ve had some lows, we’ve had some highs. For me, maybe more than any… pic.twitter.com/WTzvmBqBAB

— Variety (@Variety) December 19, 2025

Kimmel portrayed much of what he was saying as warning rather than attack. He added that censorship and sedition might take root slowly, in ways people do not expect, and encouraged audiences to not believe such things only occur far away from home.

Quipping that Americans now have “King Donny the Eighth,” Kimmel took a more somber tone when addressing threats to institutions like the free press, judicial independence, science and public health.

He also took responsibility for the effect of US politics on other countries, and apologised to British viewers for what he called America’s mess at this point in time. “We’re not all like him,” Jimmy Kimmel continued, noting many Americans do not want their government to head in the direction it’s going.

Kimmel’s remarks came within a broader context of the president, Donald Trump, feuding with mainstream news companies.

Trump has also brought lawsuits in recent months against media organizations like the BBC, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as well as backed measures to cut public funding for NPR and PBS.

Some late night hosts and journalists have voiced their concern publicly that such actions could have a chilling effect on freedom of the press.