"Kimmel" staffers off ABC payroll
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC has suspended pay for all idled staffers on its late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live," including Kimmel, who is now covering most of his employees' salaries out of his own pocket.
Kimmel already had been paying the salaries of some of his staff, while ABC was paying the rest. The show has been in repeats since the Hollywood writers strike started November 5.
Other late-night hosts who are covering their staffers' salaries out of their own pockets include NBC's Conan O'Brien and CBS' David Letterman.
Carson Daly's staff is back on the job at NBC since he returned to work last week. He addressed the controversial decision Monday night during his monologue in the first new episode of "Last Call With Carson Daly."
"If I had not been back on the air tonight, 75 members of my loyal staff and crew were going to get laid off; that's really the only reason," said Daly, who is not a member of the Writers Guild of America. "They're people that, when we moved this show from New York to L.A., uprooted their lives, moved their families, all out of loyalty to me."
The WGA has said it was disappointed by Daly's decision.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
