Jimmy Kimmel Secures Italian Citizenship
Arrivederci, indeed. Jimmy Kimmel — ABC’s resident late-night Trump critic — has revealed that he’s now a dual citizen of Italy.
The timing is worth noting: his big announcement comes as Donald Trump settles comfortably back into the Oval Office, having pulled off a political comeback that has the left still in mourning.
The 57-year-old comic, whose career has been built as much on politics as punchlines in recent years, let the news slip while chatting with former flame Sarah Silverman on her podcast. Silverman floated the idea that disillusioned Americans have been securing foreign citizenships to hedge their bets. Kimmel didn’t hesitate: “I do have… I did get Italian citizenship,” he said. “I do have that.”
This is no idle paperwork exercise for Kimmel, who stumped for Democrats during the 2024 campaign and hasn’t softened his disdain for Trump. “What’s going on is… as bad as you thought it was gonna be, it’s so much worse,” he lamented, describing the political landscape under Trump’s renewed leadership. “It’s probably even worse than [Trump] would like it to be.”
Jimmy Kimmel says he has received Italian citizenship and is considering fleeing the country pic.twitter.com/dNCmCcwRVS
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 12, 2025
In a surprising twist, Kimmel also offered something of an olive branch to former Trump voters now expressing second thoughts. Rather than heap scorn, he urged understanding: “If you want to change your mind… that’s so hard to do. You are welcome.”
According to Italy’s ANSA news agency, Kimmel secured his citizenship earlier this year after tracing his maternal line back to his great-grandparents, who left the island of Ischia in 1883 after a devastating earthquake.
That connection has now given him a legal foothold in southern Europe — and perhaps an escape route, should he ever decide “America” is too much to bear.
Kimmel isn’t the first celebrity to look overseas. Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres have reportedly relocated to Ireland and England, respectively. And the late-night ranks have been thinning: after Stephen Colbert’s show was canceled in July, Trump openly predicted that Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon might soon follow suit — not just off the air, but perhaps off U.S. soil.