Jimmy Kimmel decides to end his short-lived feud with Sean Hannity

(Image credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

published 9 April 2018

Sean Hannity threw the first verbal punch, but it was Jimmy Kimmel who decided Sunday that their blossoming feud was over. "While I admit I did have fun with our back and forth, after some thought, I realize that the level of vitriol from all sides (mine and me included) does nothing good for anyone and, in fact, is harmful for our country," Kimmel said in a statement, suggesting that Hannity's supporters had made "vile" threats against Kimmel's wife and infant son.

Kimmel, who always seemed like he was having more fun during the short-lived grudge match, went on apologize to those "members of the gay community" insulted by the nature of his "lampooning Sean Hannity's deference to the president," and said first lady Melania Trump "almost certainly has enough to worry about without being used as a prop to increase TV ratings," though he didn't say if he meant his or Hannity's. (Presumably, Hannity's.)

In any case, Kimmel appears done with the TV and Twitter fight, for whatever reason — it got boring, or he's trying to be the bigger man, or ABC decided that while "ass clown" may be on-brand for Fox News and Hannity it wasn't appropriate to dissect the phrase on a Disney-owned network. Hannity, who has demanded (but didn't really get) an apology to Melania Trump, said on Twitter that he will "have a full and comprehensive response tomorrow" on his TV show Monday night. That suggests he still has stuff to get off his chest, but if only one person is still fighting, it isn't really a feud anymore, it's just trolling.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.