Kimmel’s Scathing Parody of Vance’s Couch Controversy Ignites VP’s Fury, Sending White House Into Damage-Control Spiral

By Michael M. Grynbaum and James Poniewozik Washington — Dec. 3, 2025

Vice President J.D. Vance, the Yale-educated author turned Trump running mate whose rapid ascent has been shadowed by persistent online mockery, erupted in a weekend torrent of social media posts and Fox News appearances after a brutal parody segment on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” exposed what the host called his “dirty secrets” — from the infamous couch-sex rumor to allegations of corporate favoritism during his venture capital days. The five-minute skit, featuring actor Haley Joel Osment reprising his uncanny Vance impersonation from the show’s post-debate special, descended into studio chaos when Mr. Kimmel ad-libbed a graphic reenactment that left the audience howling and producers scrambling to bleep profanities. Viewed over 12 million times on YouTube by Tuesday morning, the takedown has plunged the Vance camp into full meltdown mode, with aides leaking details of a frantic Mar-a-Lago strategy session where Mr. Vance reportedly slammed a laptop and demanded a “kill switch” on late-night coverage, amplifying Democratic glee amid midterm headwinds.

The parody, aired during Monday’s episode amid a wave of FCC scrutiny on ABC affiliates, built on Mr. Kimmel’s long-running feud with the vice president, which escalated in September when Mr. Vance dismissed the host’s suspension as a “fairytale” tied to poor ratings rather than regulatory pressure. Mr. Kimmel, reinstated after a 12-day hiatus imposed by Disney following FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s threats over jokes about the Charlie Kirk assassination, has made Vance a recurring foil, dubbing him “Vice President Maybelline” for his on-camera makeup and skewering his defense of the probes as “not a federal government problem.” But Monday’s segment — billed as “Vance’s Vault of Secrets” — veered into uncharted territory, blending archival clips with satirical reenactments that the host later called “the line we crossed, then danced over.”

Mr. Osment, 41, the former child star from “The Sixth Sense” whose Vance mimicry debuted in September with a dead-on Ohio twang and awkward pauses, opened the bit in a rumpled suit, perched on a comically oversized couch. “I’m J.D. Vance, and yes, I did that — but only after the economy did me,” he drawled, riffing on the 2021 rumor from Mr. Trump’s eldest son, Donald Jr., that Vance had confessed to intimacy with furniture during his “Hillbilly Elegy” book tour. The studio audience roared as Osment “demonstrated,” prompting Mr. Kimmel to leap from his desk: “Cut! Haley, that’s too real — we need a safe word for sofas!” Chaos ensued when a prop couch “collapsed” under Osment, spilling him onto the floor in a tangle of cushions, with band members scrambling to assist amid peals of laughter. Mr. Kimmel, doubled over, ad-libbed: “See? Even the furniture rejects you, J.D. — just like your ‘dirty secrets’ from Silicon Valley, where you cashed $120 million checks from Peter Thiel while railing against elites. Hypocrite much?” The unscripted tumble, left in for “raw energy,” trended instantly under #VanceCouchChaos, blending memes of Osment’s fall with Vance’s actual Fox clips denying the rumor as “fake news psyops.”

Mr. Vance’s meltdown commenced within the hour, a series of X posts that spiraled into 22 by midnight, viewed over 15 million times. “Kimmel’s desperate couch skit — pathetic! Exposing ‘secrets’? That’s the left’s smear machine at work, from Thiel lies to Epstein hoaxes. I’m fighting for Ohio families, not fake laughs. ABC, you’re done — FCC is watching!” he wrote, his tone a mix of professorial disdain and raw fury. By Tuesday morning, Mr. Vance had escalated to a full Fox & Friends interview, where he mocked Mr. Kimmel’s “toilet humor” and accused the show of “coordinating with Democrats to tank midterms.” “This isn’t comedy; it’s character assassination — and I won’t stand for it,” he said, his voice rising as co-host Steve Doocy pressed on the couch bit’s origins in a Trump family podcast. The appearance, drawing 4.5 million viewers, devolved into crosstalk when Mr. Vance snapped: “That rumor’s a lie — just like Kimmel’s ratings!”

At Mar-a-Lago, the Vance camp — a tight-knit circle of Ohio aides and Thiel-linked strategists — descended into disarray. Sources described a late-night war room where Mr. Vance, flanked by his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance and communications director Taylor Van Kirk, hurled a tablet during a review of the clip, demanding: “Who greenlit Osment? Get me on Hannity — now!” Chief of Staff Susie Wiles joined via Zoom, urging a “walk-back tweet” to avoid alienating women voters, but Mr. Vance doubled down, posting a video rebuttal: “Kimmel exposes nothing — except his irrelevance. My ‘secrets’? Hard work for American jobs, not Hollywood hits.” Press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s briefing Tuesday framed the skit as “vile defamation,” but a leaked internal memo revealed fears of a 7-point favorability drop among independents, per a Vance-aligned pollster.

The takedown has rippled through late-night and beyond, galvanizing a cross-network pushback against FCC pressures. Mr. Kimmel, taping Tuesday, replayed the chaos with slow-motion replays: “J.D., your meltdown’s funnier than my fall — and less staged.” Seth Meyers quipped on NBC: “Vance erupts at a couch gag? That’s like Biden raging at ice cream scoops.” Stephen Colbert, podcast-only after CBS’s July axing, dedicated an episode: “Osment as Vance tumbling off furniture? Poetic — the VP’s secrets are out, and they’re upholstered.” The solidarity spiked Mr. Kimmel’s ratings 28 percent to 2.7 million, while #DirtySecretsVance trended with 2.9 million X mentions, blending couch memes with Thiel donation graphics.

Capitol Hill Democrats weaponized the frenzy as midterm ammunition. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., introduced a “Comedy Shield Act” co-sponsored by Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., blasting the FCC as “Vance’s vengeance tool.” Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., subpoenaed Mr. Carr for Dec. 15 hearings, tying the probes to broader “speech suppression.” Republicans fractured: Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., called the parody “mean-spirited but protected,” while Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., urged Mr. Vance on Fox: “Fight the message, not the messenger — this plays into their hands.” A bipartisan Quinnipiac poll showed Mr. Vance’s approval at 41 percent, down 6 points, with young voters citing the skit as “cringe confirmation” of elitism.

For Mr. Vance, 41, the eruption compounds a vice presidency of intellectual jousts turned tabloid fodder. Once a Trump skeptic in “Hillbilly Elegy,” his flip to MAGA loyalty — amplified by Thiel’s $15 million in 2022 — has invited scrutiny of his “dirty secrets”: The couch tale, debunked but enduring, and venture capital windfalls from Palantir and Airbnb amid his populist rhetoric. Allies like Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., rallied on X: “Kimmel’s desperate — Vance owns the future!” But strategists leaked midterm perils: With off-year losses still stinging, the parody risks alienating Rust Belt women, per a National Republican Senatorial Committee analysis.

Mr. Kimmel, 57, milked the chaos in a teaser: “J.D.’s secrets? More like stains on the Oval couch.” The brutal parody, off the rails and on the money, underscores a fractured media landscape: One late-night tumble, and the Vance camp topples — into a meltdown of its own making.