Jimmy Kimmel to deliver Channel 4’s 2025 Alternative Christmas Message

Jimmy Kimmel will follow in the footsteps of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Edward Snowden

US talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel is to share a personal message with the UK in Channel 4’s Alternative Christmas Message this Christmas Day.

The Alternative Christmas Message has been broadcast by C4 for more than three decades as a sometimes humorous and sometimes serious alternative to the traditional monarch’s speech that airs on the BBC.

It comes after Kimmel’s late-night ABC show Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taken off air earlier this year following comments he made in the wake of the murder of political activist Charlie Kirk. Kimmel’s suspension led to widespread protest and debate in the US about freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Following his return to air and his much-publicised criticism of the US administration, Kimmel will reflect on the past few months in a deeply personal and characteristically jovial address, C4 said.

Kimmel’s address follows in the tradition of other topical presenters delivering the Alternative Christmas Message, including the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whistle-blower Edward Snowden and Afghan war veteran Major Andrew Stockton.