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But Jimmy Kimmel did. So the question now is, does he have “great blackmail photos of the network executives,” says the New York Times.

At a presentation in New York, yesterday, Kimmel, who hosts ABC’s late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live, “delivered a withering, blistering monologue that took direct aim at ABC, its potential advertisers and his NBC late-night rival, Jay Leno,” says the story.

The assembled advertisers, “received his performance with a mixture of uneasy laughs and the occasional gasp,” it says, going on to quote Kimmel as stating »»»

Every year we lie to you and every year you come back for more. You don’t need an upfront. You need therapy. We completely lie to you, and then you pass those lies onto your clients.

Yeh. Well?

After taking “a verbal swing at his own network” and aiming “a couple of zingers at Fox,”  he got back to ABC advertisers, saying:

“Next year on ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ your product could kill Dr. Izzie. It just depends on how much you want to pay.”

And in closing, “I think all our shows are going to work this year. I really do.”

He paused, says the NYT, and then, “I don’t, really.”

“The important thing to remember is,” he added, “who cares, it’s not your money.”

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New York Times – Jimmy Kimmel Demolishes ABC’s Upfronts, May 19, 2009