Jimmy Kimmel Talks About the Lack of Women Hosts on Late-Night TV Shows

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published 13 March 2015

Jimmy Kimmel knows what's up. In an interview with The Daily Beast (opens in new tab), the host was saddled with a question about the lack of female hosts of late-night TV shows. And his response was damn near perfect.

"You know, TV networks are stupid," Kimmel says. "There's this idea that women have to host the shows in the daytime and men have to host the shows in the nighttime. What will happen is some woman will come along, be super popular, do a great job, and all the other networks will say, 'We must get a woman on the air!' They're sheep, and that's the way it goes, and somebody needs to lead the way."

He continued: "If Ellen, Tina Fey, or Amy Poehler decided they wanted to do a late-night talk show, it would be no more than three minutes before they'd be given the opportunity. But some of the women that are attractive to networks are too big for it."

With Jon Stewart leaving his spot on The Daily Show and Stephen Colbert replacing Letterman come May, it seems the time may be ripe for a new host with double X chromosomes. And the people have spoken: Americans want Tina Fey to be the new host of The Daily Show (opens in new tab). Are you listening networks? And more importantly—are you ready for this Fey? ('Cause we are.)

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Samantha Leal is the Deputy Editor at Well+Good, where she spends most of her day thinking of new ideas across platforms, bringing on new writers, overseeing the day-to-day of the website, and working with the awesome team to produce the best stories and packages. Before W+G, she was the Senior Web Editor for Marie Claire and the Deputy Editor for Latina.com, with bylines all over the internet. Graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a minor in African history, she’s written everything from travel guides to political op-eds to wine explainers (currently enrolled in the WSET program) to celebrity profiles. Find her online pretty much everywhere @samanthajoleal.