Jimmy Kimmel Has COVID, Mike Birbiglia to Step in for ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
Jimmy Kimmel has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be absent from Jimmy Kimmel Live! while he and his family take time to recover. Comedian Mike Birbiglia will fill in for Kimmel in his absence starting Tuesday, May 3.
Kimmel shared the news on Twitter on Monday, May 2. He assured his followers that he and his family are feeling fine.
“Our daughter brought us covid (even though we specifically asked her not to),” Kimmel quipped. “All feeling fine, I am double vaxxed and boosted but the show must not go on. Apologies to @TomCruise & @iliza and thanks to Mike Birbiglia @birbigs who’ll be filling in for me starting tomorrow night.”
“I must be the first person to ever deplane a Southwest Airlines flight and find out they’re guest-hosting a late night talk show,” Birbiglia tweeted in response. “Sending love to the Kimmels. See you on the TV tomorrow, friends.”
It’s not clear if the taping of the May 2 episode was canceled due to Kimmel’s illness, but his apology to Tom Cruise and Iliza Shlesinger in his tweet implies as much. The band Parquet Courts was also set to perform in tonight’s episode. And Birbiglia was actually slated as a guest on the late-night talk show on Tuesday, May 3.
Instead, Birbiglia will be hosting when Mike Myers is a guest and the Black Crowes perform on May 3. Ewan McGregor, Ben Schwartz, and the Head and the Heart will appear Wednesday, May 4 (a perfect day for the Obi-Wan Kenobi star to appear). And Kevin Hart and Hannah Einbinder will appear on Thursday, May 5.
Kimmel’s return to the show will be announced at a later time.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Weeknights, 11:35/10:35c, ABC
