Mickey Mouse provided the opening act of Disney’s 2025-2026 upfront presentation, held in Manhattan’s Javits Center on Tuesday. But the G-rated character wisely didn’t stick around for the R-rated finale.
Jimmy Kimmel once again served as the event’s closer… and he brought the verbal fireworks. During the course of his roughly 15-minute set—an opening video followed by a monologue—the late-night host merrily roasted the Mouse House (not to mention its competitors) until they were crispier than one of Jack-Jack’s cookie num nums.
Nothing and no one was safe from Kimmel’s comic arrows. The future of ESPN+ now that the direct-to-consumer ESPN service exists? “The plus is now, in many ways, a minus.” NBCUniversal’s new spin-off company, Versant? “It sounds like something you subscribed to by accident.”
And how about ABC’s fall lineup, which notably includes only one new scripted dramatic series (911: Nashville) that also happens to be a spin-off? “[It] really begs the question—what are we doing here?”
(Read our full recap of Kimmel’s blistering monologue below.)
The ribbing was all in good fun, but Kimmel knowingly spoke to some of the realities that people flock to Disney’s wide array of entertainment properties, from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars to Moana and The Bear, specifically to avoid.
“No one knows what the future holds,” he acknowledged. “But I will leave you with this: We are the number one multi-platform network.”
“What does that mean?” he added after a well-timed beat. “We don’t know. And we’re hoping you don’t either.”
Advengers: Endgame
Actually, Jimmy, Disney ad sales head Rita Ferro knows exactly what being the number one multi-platform network means. And she used her opening remarks to outline what makes Mickey Mouse’s domain a clubhouse advertisers want to join, regardless of the uncertain headwinds facing the industry at large.
