Jimmy Kimmel Explains Why Some Are 'Pinning' Rudy Giuliani's Hospitalization on Him

Brenton BlanchetTue, May 5, 2026 at 2:47 PM UTC

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Jimmy Kimmel; Rudy GiulianiCredit: Jimmy Kimmel Live/Youtube; Nathan Posner/Shutterstock -

Jimmy Kimmel is responding to those trying to tie a joke about former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani to his recent health news

The late-night host called out critics who decided to "somehow pin this on me" after it was revealed Giuliani has been hospitalized

"Sure enough, one of these podcast bozos points to a joke I made about Rudy on Thursday about him being a vampire, and then suggests I might actually have some inside knowledge," Kimmel said

Jimmy Kimmel is responding to those blaming him for Rudy Giuliani's recent health news.

On the Monday, May 4 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the late-night host revealed his initial thought when he learned that the former New York City mayor had been hospitalized due to a bout of pneumonia: "I wonder if they'll try to blame this on me?"

The week prior, Kimmel, 58, joked that Giuliani "rose from the grave to weigh in" on his latest back-and-forth with Donald and Melania Trump. Now, after news of Giuliani's hospitalization broke on Sunday, May 3, Kimmel is calling out critics who decided to "somehow pin this on me."

Jimmy Kimmel appears at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'Credit: Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty

"Sure enough, one of these podcast bozos points to a joke I made about Rudy on Thursday about him being a vampire, and then suggests I might actually have some inside knowledge of what's going on in Trumptown there," Kimmel said. "And then that becomes a thing and results in this Newsmax panel formed to somehow pin this on me."

Kimmel then played a clip from the panel in question, featuring panelists calling him "not funny" for the jab and claiming it was "abhorrent what he's doing under the gauze of comedy."

The footage then cut to a shot of the host standing under a sheet of gauze, held up by guys wearing Groucho masks, to poke fun at the panelist for mixing up his words. "In fact, I'm under the gauze of comedy right now. The gauze gives me psychic abilities. This is how I work."

He added, "Every day I wake up, I make coffee and I look into the future to see which events have yet to occur. And then we write jokes that we know are gonna make trouble."

Kimmel closed the bit by offering some words on Giuliani's health, telling viewers that he hopes he "lives another 100 years."

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"He earned that outside the dildo shop," Kimmel said, referring to the location of a press conference the politician held after the 2020 presidential election at a landscape company situated beside a sex shop. "That was the funniest thing any person has done this century."

Rudy GiulianiCredit: Nathan Posner/Shutterstock

Kimmel's initial joke about Giuliani, 81, aired during the Tuesday, April 28 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, after the former mayor called the late-night host an "incompetent jackass" for his recent exchange with the first family. Giuliani called him "one of the most distasteful human beings in this country," while Kimmel joked that it "hurts to be called distasteful by a man who farted his own pants off in front of Borat's daughter."

The saga followed Kimmel's "alternative" White House Correspondents' Dinner segment on Thursday, April 23, when he joked that Melania had "a glow like an expectant widow. Melania, President Trump and the White House took issue with the jab.

News broke on Sunday, May 3 that Giuliani was hospitalized in critical condition. Giuliani's spokesman, Ted Goodman, shared an update on Monday, May 4 that he remains in "critical but stable condition" and is "recovering from pneumonia."

"On September 11th, Mayor Giuliani ran toward the towers to help those in need, which later led to a diagnosis of restrictive airway disease," Goodman said in a statement. "This condition adds complications to any respiratory illness, and the virus quickly overwhelmed his body, requiring mechanical ventilation to maintain adequate oxygen and stabilize his condition."

Giuliani is now "breathing on his own, with his family and primary medical provider at his side," Goodman said.

"Mayor Giuliani is the ultimate fighter—as he has demonstrated throughout his life—and he is winning this battle," he added. "His family deeply appreciates the outpouring of love and support. The mayor believes in the power of prayer, and we are feeling that strength today."

Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.

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