**Jimmy Kimmel and Ricky Gervais Stage a Ferocious, Unscripted Assault on Trump in Late-Night Television’s Most Brutal Night**
By Sarah Ellison
The New York Times
November 21, 2025

LOS ANGELES. For thirteen uninterrupted minutes Thursday night, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” ceased to be a talk show and became something closer to a public autopsy. With Ricky Gervais as the surprise guest, the two comedians performed what may be the most savage, sustained takedown of President Donald J. Trump ever broadcast on American network television, leaving the studio audience in near-hysterical pandemonium and, according to four people with direct knowledge of events at Mar-a-Lago, plunging the former president’s Florida compound into a state of sustained fury.

Mr. Gervais, the British creator of “The Office” and a longtime Trump critic, had been booked to promote a new stand-up tour. Instead, the moment he sat down, Mr. Kimmel played a clip of Mr. Trump’s latest rally claim: that he possesses “the best memory of any human being on Earth, maybe ever.” The audience groaned. Mr. Gervais stared at the monitor, then turned slowly to the crowd.

“Best memory?” he said, voice flat. “He can’t remember which wife he was married to when he met Epstein.”

The room detonated.

What followed was a merciless, two-handed demolition that moved with the speed and precision of a boxing clinic. Mr. Kimmel, leaning forward on his desk, fed setups; Mr. Gervais delivered the knockouts.

Kimmel: “He says the Epstein files are no big deal.”
Gervais: “Of course he says that. He’s in them more times than the flight log.”

Kimmel: “He claims he barely knew the guy.”
Gervais: “Yeah, just 17 phone numbers, a private plane, and a modeling agency. That’s ‘barely’ in the same way the Titanic ‘barely’ hit an iceberg.”

The audience was no longer merely laughing; it was howling, some spectators bent double, others on their feet shouting approval. Mr. Gervais, rarely one to spare sacred cows, went further, mocking Mr. Trump’s recent assertion that he had “done more for Christianity than Jesus.”

“Jesus turned water into wine,” Mr. Gervais deadpanned. “Trump turned Christianity into a tax-exempt super PAC. Slightly different miracle.”

Mr. Kimmel, eyes watering, could barely speak. He simply pointed at the monitor showing a freeze-frame of Mr. Trump mid-rally scowl and let Mr. Gervais continue.

On the subject of the president’s sudden support for unsealing the Epstein documents after months of opposition, Mr. Gervais offered a single, withering line: “He flipped faster than a Russian oligarch at a Trump Tower closing.”

The segment ended with Mr. Gervais standing, arms outstretched, addressing the camera directly: “Look, I don’t hate the man. I just think if you’re going to brag about being a stable genius, at least be stable. Or a genius. Pick one.”

The studio erupted in a standing ovation that lasted nearly a full minute, forcing the show to cut to commercial without music.

At Mar-a-Lago, the reaction was immediate and volcanic. Four people familiar with the evening’s events described a scene of controlled chaos: televisions blaring, aides sprinting with phones, the president reportedly pacing in circles, repeating variations of “Who let that limey on American airwaves?” One adviser said Mr. Trump demanded to know whether ABC’s license could be revoked “tonight.” Another recounted him shouting, “Gervais is finished in this country!” before dictating a Truth Social post at 12:14 a.m.: “Kimmel & Ricky Gervais, two NO TALENT losers, are a total disgrace. Ratings in toilet. Sad!”

Mr. Gervais responded on X at 12:27 a.m. with a single photograph: a close-up of his Netflix special poster and the caption “Still here.”

By Friday morning the clip had exceeded 38 million views, briefly overwhelming ABC’s servers. #KimmelGervais was the top global trend for eight consecutive hours. TikTok was flooded with slowed-down replays of the “Russian oligarch” line set to dramatic orchestral stings.

For Mr. Kimmel, whose nightly monologues have become a ritual act of resistance, the segment represented a crescendo. For Mr. Gervais, who has largely avoided American political talk shows in recent years, it was a reminder of his unmatched ability to weaponize contempt with surgical calm.

Whether the episode will shift public opinion or simply disappear into the endless scroll remains to be seen. But for one extraordinary quarter-hour on broadcast television, two comedians did what prosecutors, journalists, and political opponents have struggled to achieve for years: they stripped the emperor bare, and they made the entire country laugh while watching him squirm.