Jimmy Kimmel jokes about Trump, Amelia Earhart in Brooklyn show

Jimmy Kimmel began a week-long series of Jimmy Kimmel Live! tapings from the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Monday, Sept. 29.

The late-night host, 57, typically broadcasts from Los Angeles, but returning to his native Brooklyn has become an annual tradition.

The first show featured guests Ryan Reynolds, Josh Johnson, and Public Enemy. In his opening monologue, Kimmel referenced President Donald Trump’s recent decision to declassify records related to Amelia Earhart’s disappearance in 1937.

Joking about the announcement, Kimmel quipped, “The president has been hard at work coming up with all sorts of nonsense to distract us from the Epstein files,” and added, “Unless her final flight was to Epstein's island, no one cares. At least he made it to the E's in the files. That's progress.”

Kimmel also included jokes about the New York Mets, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and Vice President JD Vance.

Additional guests scheduled for the Brooklyn shows include Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, Emily Blunt on Wednesday, Jeremy Allen White and Bruce Springsteen on Thursday, and Tom Hanks on Friday.

This string of shows comes shortly after the program returned to the air on Sept. 23 following a six-day hiatus. The hiatus began on Sept. 17 after comments Kimmel made during his Sept. 15 monologue about Charlie Kirk’s death were criticized as “inappropriate and deeply insensitive” by Sinclair, which operates the largest ABC affiliate group.

The show gradually returned to all affiliated channels by Sept. 26.