Jimmy Kimmel Live is expanding its tradition of A-list guest hosts, giving beloved comedians and cultural icons a chance to shine in the late-night spotlight while Kimmel takes his well-deserved summer break.
Jelly Roll's return raises eyebrows—some insiders wonder if this marks a broader career pivot toward mainstream television hosting for the rapper-cum-country star, especially after that awkward moment during last year's Emmy nominations when he visibly fumbled questions about his own show.
Anthony Anderson has completed 24 episodes as guest host—the most of anyone in the program's history. Ike Barinholtz and his father Alan won $1 million on Kimmel's 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' in 2024, and now Barinholtz gets his first shot at hosting JKL during the week of July 20.
Kimmel trusting his guest hosts with four consecutive weeks of programming speaks volumes about both his confidence in the rotation and the show's institutional depth. Whether any of them can actually hold the ratings when the reruns end remains to be seen—late night is a brutal proving ground, and not everyone survives their first week behind the desk.
When Jimmy Kimmel signs off for his annual summer vacation later this week, ABC's 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' won't go dark. Instead, the network will roll out an eclectic roster of guest hosts beginning July 6—and the names on that list range from predictable to genuinely surprising. Tiffany Haddish kicks things off for the second consecutive year, fresh off her debut hosting stint in 2025.
The comedian's return suggests ABC executives were pleased with her performance last summer, though critics will be watching to see if she's tightened her delivery or if audiences will get more of those awkward pauses that plagued some of her interviews. Following Haddish: Anthony Anderson, who's become something of a 'JKL' institution himself with 24 guest hosting episodes under his belt—more than any other fill-in in the show's history. Anderson's longevity speaks to both his easy chemistry with the show's crew and his genuine friendship with Kimmel, which extends beyond the couch into collaborative projects like the 'Live in Front of a Studio Audience' specials.
The most intriguing addition to this year's rotation is Ike Barinholtz, making his first-ever appearance as guest host. This comes just two years after Barinholtz—alongside his father Alan—won the top $1 million prize on Kimmel's syndicated version of 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.' Some might call that a conflict of interest; ABC apparently calls it compelling television. Barinholtz also has talk show credentials from the 2019 film 'Late Night,' where he played a network page, though scripted acting and live late-night hosting are entirely different beasts.
Colman Domingo enters the rotation during the week of July 20, marking another first for both parties. Domingo recently hosted an episode of 'Saturday Night Live' in April, giving him some high-profile hosting experience, but again: SNL has a full writers' room and production team. Talk show hosting is messier, more improvisational, and far less forgiving of dead air.
He also runs his own 'Bottomless Brunch at Colman's' for AMC, which suggests he can handle a conversational format—but whether that skill transfers to interviewing A-list celebrities while keeping the energy up for 90 minutes remains an open question. Then there's Jelly Roll, returning after his two-week stint in July 2025. The country-rap crossover star has been aggressively expanding his entertainment empire beyond music, and late-night hosting represents a calculated move toward mainstream television legitimacy.
Whether audiences actually want to see him interrogate celebrities about their latest projects is another matter entirely—some viewers praised his authentic style last year while others found the questioning unfocused and occasionally self-referential. 'Jimmy Kimmel Live' will air reruns through the July 4 holiday before the guest host rotation begins in earnest. The show airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m.
ET on ABC, with next-day streaming available on Hulu. Kimmel himself returns eventually—because of course he does—but until then, these eight days of programming will serve as something of a referendum on whether anyone can truly fill that particular chair.
