Jimmy Kimmel was already in hot water over a joke about Melania Trump. Then he made another one that quickly came back to haunt him. During a monologue last Tuesday, Kimmel joked that Rudy Giuliani had “rose from the grave” to comment on the brewing controversy around him. Five days later, Giuliani was in a hospital in critical condition.
The Giuliani quip came as Fox News reported that Kimmel was defending himself against calls from the White House and First Lady Melania Trump to be fired over an earlier joke. On April 23, ahead of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Kimmel had called Melania Trump someone with “a glow like an expectant widow.” The dinner was later disrupted when a gunman allegedly opened fire near the venue, which instantly made the joke look far worse.
With the “expectant widow” backlash still raging, Kimmel used his Tuesday monologue to address it when Giuliani entered the picture. The 81-year-old former New York City mayor had gone on his show to call Kimmel “distasteful” over the Melania joke. Kimmel played the clip and fired back. “So, last night, America’s mayor, Rudy Giuliani, rose from the grave to weigh in on the ongoing drama involving me,” Kimmel said. He then added, “I have to say, it hurts to be called distasteful by a man who farted his own pants off in front of Borat’s daughter.” Kimmel rounded out the bit by asking, “Does this man have any family members who can come get him already?”
Giuliani hospitalized days later
That clip resurfaced quickly online after political strategist Ted Goodman posted Sunday that Giuliani had been rushed to a hospital in Florida. NBC News reported that Giuliani was battling pneumonia, a condition made more serious by a pre-existing diagnosis of restrictive airway disease he received after spending time at Ground Zero following the September 11 attacks. His body was overwhelmed by the viral lung infection, and he was placed on a ventilator before stabilizing. By Monday, Goodman said Giuliani was breathing on his own with family at his bedside.
Giuliani had actually hinted at his illness on Friday’s episode of his online show “America’s Mayor Live,” where he told viewers his voice was “a little under the weather” while coughing on air. He had also missed several episodes in April. Goodman’s statement called Giuliani “the ultimate fighter” and asked the public for prayers.
President Donald Trump reacted to the news on Truth Social, writing that Giuliani was “a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR.” Trump also used the post to take swipes at Democrats, accusing them of treating Giuliani unfairly over the years.
The Kimmel controversy it all grew out of
The Giuliani moment was a footnote in a larger war between Kimmel and the White House. Kimmel repeatedly defended his “expectant widow” joke as a reference to the age gap between Donald Trump, 79, and Melania Trump, 56, and not a call for violence. “It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination, and they know that,” Kimmel said on his Monday show.
Melania Trump pushed back hard on that framing. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy,” she wrote on X. “His words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.” White House communications director Steven Cheung called for ABC to fire Kimmel immediately, describing his joke as “disgusting.” The FCC separately moved to accelerate a review of Disney’s broadcast licenses, a step a source described to NBC as “unprecedented.”
Kimmel has faced pressure from Trump before over his ABC show and has repeatedly clapped back, including in a recent segment where he responded to Trump’s firing demands with a bedroom video. As of this writing, ABC has not announced any action against Kimmel, and the host has shown no signs of backing down.
Giuliani has faced years of legal and financial difficulties since 2020, including being disbarred in both New York and Washington, D.C., and declaring bankruptcy after a $148 million defamation judgment against him. Trump pardoned Giuliani and others connected to efforts to reverse the 2020 election results in November 2025, though the pardon does not shield him from any remaining state-level exposure.
