Jimmy Kimmel has been married to Molly McNearney since 2013. McNearney, who plays a big role behind the scenes of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is both the show’s executive producer and co-head writer. According to USA TODAY, a network spokesperson confirmed the late-night show will be “pre-empted indefinitely” following the recent controversy.
McNearney is Kimmel’s second wife—he was previously married to Gina Maddy Kimmel from 1988 to 2003, and they share two adult children.
Kimmel and McNearney first met on the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! before getting engaged during a safari trip in South Africa, as reported by People. Together, they’ve welcomed two children, bringing Kimmel’s total to four. Beyond her work on her husband’s show, McNearney has also contributed to major productions like The Academy Awards and the Emmy Awards, according to her IMDb profile.
Molly McNearney once opened up to Glamour about how her love story with Jimmy Kimmel unfolded. In a 2014 interview, the magazine noted that “the most interesting aspect of their relationship is that technically, Jimmy is Molly’s boss.”
McNearney started at Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a writer’s assistant about a decade earlier and worked her way up the ladder. “The writing staff is in the building next door, and Jimmy’s office is in the theater,” she explained. “Most of us write from home in the morning, and then we email all of our ideas to Jimmy. We are very separate from him, which is pretty good because he has to remain focused. When we all are together, it can get a little distracting!”
Their very first meeting, she said, wasn’t exactly charming. “When I first met him, he insulted me! The executive producer brought me into his office and said, ‘This is Molly; she’s my new assistant,’” McNearney recalled. “Jimmy barely looked up from his desk until my EP said, ‘She competes in triathlons,’ and then Jimmy looked up at me and said, ‘That is really stupid! What a waste of time.’”
At the start, romance wasn’t even on her radar. “I didn’t think of him that way because he was my boss,” she admitted. But things shifted in 2000 as they began spending more time together outside of work. “All the writers would socialize after the show, and we would just hang out more and more. We really liked each other as friends, and then it just kind of turned. He cooked for me, and that was it. It sealed the deal,” she told Glamour.
