Howard Stern doesn’t believe Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel are actually friends.
Kimmel was a guest on The Howard Stern Showwhere Stern confronted him after seeing the two late-night hosts interact.
“I’ll be honest,” Stern said. “We went this summer and you were kind enough to invite me. And I went with Jimmy Fallon. It’s this whole thing, ‘Oh, the two Jimmys love each other.’ I wish you would tell the truth,” he continued, putting Kimmel on the spot. “You don’t like being with Jimmy Fallon. And watching him is so funny.”
Kimmel, 58, and Fallon, 52, repeatedly played up what Stern called their “fake friendship” on Kimmel’s show. Fallon is also included as one of late night’s self-dubbed “Strike Force Five.”
After Stern, 72, insisted it was all just for show, Kimmel shot back, “Let me tell you a few things. First of all, I don’t know how I defend myself, but I’m going to try to. First of all, I can’t imagine anyone not having fun hanging out with Jimmy Fallon, because Jimmy Fallon, as you know, is a lot of fun.”
Stern didn’t disagree.
Kimmel continued, “But secondly, do you think that I have so much free time in my life and so much free space in my life that I would spend – I’m going to dinner with Jimmy Fallon this week, actually while I’m here – that I would waste that time on a so-called friendship for no reason?”
Stern responded, “It’s not pretending. I think you desperately need to prove that, ‘Oh, we can all get along.'” Kimmel asked incredulously, “To whom? Who am I proving this to?”
“I don’t know, for the whole world,” Stern said. Kimmel added: “I didn’t even know you were watching us. Now that I know you’re watching us, I’m going to be aware of it.”
Kimmel and Fallon became direct competitors when Fallon took over Tonight’s show by Jay Leno in 2013. That year, when asked about their relationship, Kimmel told CBS News, “We’re very friendly. I know people expect us to dislike each other and say bad things about each other, but that’s never going to happen.” He added: “It’s nice. We’re like Peaches & Herb. I’m Peaches.”
Fallon, the evening’s most apolitical host, defended Kimmel on-air after the ABC host’s suspension and FCC threats from Trump last September. “I know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s an honest, funny, loving guy, and I hope he comes back,” Fallon said at the time.
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