The entire entertainment world was stirring when Jimmy Kimmel, the famous host of Talk Show late at night, officially closed his program on February 5, 2025 after more than two decades of air. But what makes people unable to take their eyes off the screen is not an emotional last broadcast, but a short, sharp message that Kimmel sent straight to Elon Musk, a controversial technology billionaire. With only 12 words, that sentence exploded the debate and made social networks almost paralyzed for hours.
In the end of the broadcast, when the spotlight gradually turned off, Kimmel suddenly looked directly at the camera and declared: “Elon, you can buy the whole world, but can’t buy me.” Not explaining, not adding, he stepped out of the stage, leaving the audience in a state of stunning and millions of viewers at the house rushed to speculate the true meaning behind that words. This is not the first time Kimmel has targeted Musk on television – in recent years, he often mocked Musk’s projects, from Tesla to SpaceX, and his controversial statements on X. But this time, it feels more personal than ever.
The decision to end Kimmel’s program was speculated from the end of 2024, when he revealed in an interview that he wanted to spend time with his family after more than 20 years of devotion to TV night. However, no one expected that he would choose to break up with a direct shot aimed at Musk, whom Kimmel once called “the richest eccentric planet”. Some people think that this is the last response after Musk has publicly criticized Kimmel on X, calling his program “Propaganda trash” and urged the audience to turn away.
Reaction from the online community almost immediately. On X, where Musk had more than 200 million followers, Kimmel’s fans praised him for “telling the truth”, while Musk’s fan army countered that Kimmel was only trying to earn attention in the final moments of his career. A user wrote: “Jimmy just burned the last bridge before leaving – it is respectable!” Meanwhile, another mocked: “12 words to end a failed program – Musk must be smirking somewhere.”
Elon Musk, which is famous for his lightning fast feedback on social networks, does not let things pass in silence. Just a few hours later, he posted a brief tweet: “Jimmy, thanks for the free advertising. Good night.” The words were accompanied by a smirked emoticon, enough to warm up the battle of words back and forth between two powerful men in their fields. Some analysts believe that this is only a public battle, but others believe it reflects a deeper contradiction between traditional entertainment culture and modern technology world that Musk represents.
Whatever the real reason, this moment marked an unforgettable ending for Kimmel’s television career. When the glory of the late night Talk Show faded away in the streaming era and social network, his last message seemed to be the statement that he was not afraid of anyone, including the richest man in the world. Is this the last time we heard Kimmel confronted Musk, or just a prelude to a new battle outside the screen? For these two characters, nothing is impossible.
