Jimmy Kimmel's Daughter Grew Up To Be Gorgeous
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
Jimmy Kimmel's mug is a ubiquitous sight in American households given that he hosts a late night talk show on ABC, Jimmy Kimmel Live. He's also hosted some of the biggest award shows out there, such as the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Academy Awards. It doesn't get much bigger than that!
But if you rewind to the late 1990s, Kimmel was just getting his big break, first on Win Ben Stein's Money, and later on The Man Show. Yes, there really was a show called The Man Show, and it was about as crass as you can imagine.
But despite Kimmel's bro-inspired hi-jinks, it turns out he's a pretty good dad. And his oldest daughter, Katie Kimmel, is proof: she's extremely creative, comfortable in her own skin, and wildly irreverent when it comes to humor. Plus, what she does for a living might surprise you. Here's everything we know about the prince of late night's eldest daughter, who's marching to the beat of her own drum.
She wasn't raised rich
Unlike many children of television superstars, Katie Kimmel was not raised in a lavish Malibu mansion or a brownstone in Manhattan's Upper West Side. Rather, Kimmel has a much more humble origin story, as her father was far from famous when she came into the world. "When I had my oldest daughter, Katie, I was 24," he recalled in an interview with Vulture. And that the time, he was doing morning radio, which didn't exactly have him swimming in money. "I'd pick Katie up from daycare as quickly as I could, because we couldn't afford the $5 an hour to keep her there longer." That's a relatable struggle, for sure.
Perhaps that's why the younger Kimmel comes across on social media and in interviews as both authentic and confidant, instead of appearing consumed with her appearance or worrying about what other people have to say about her. Stay humble, boo!
Her favorite holiday tradition as a kid?
It doesn't take long to realize that Katie Kimmel is someone who has a quirky sense of humor, often giving some surprising answers to normally conventional questions. For example, when it comes to her favorite holiday tradition growing up, it had nothing to do with Christmas presents she received, or a memorable meal the family shared. Instead? "The only one that comes to mind is that every Thanksgiving my mom took the giblets out of the turkey and cooked them up for our family dogs," she revealed in an interview with Society6. "They loved it." She was looking out for the dogs from the start!
Kimmel carries on those traditions as an adult, too. "This year for Thanksgiving my dogs Pony and Muffin will be eating giblets," she continued. And while you might not think she's being serious, chances are she really is. Kimmel is quite the dog lover, and she's not shy about sharing it.
Crazy creative from the start
Creativity is etched into Kimmel's DNA, and that was apparent to her from the very beginning as she was always creating and making things with her hands. And unsurprisingly, that resulted in some hilarious hi-jinks on occasion given that she was just a kid. "I did get my entire house infested with mice as a kid because I was hoarding pizza boxes to make a giant fort in the backyard," she confessed in a since-removed interview with Black Book. That's both hilarious and horrifying at the same time!
So how did the project go awry? "My plan was to layer it with tape until it was waterproof but I didn't have the sense to remove the leftover pizza from the box when I secretly dragged it into my closet," she continued. "My mom was super happy about it." We can only imagine how insane that must have been.
The Oxbow School changed her life
Kimmel is open about the fact that high school was a little difficult for her. She says it rendered her "nervous and stunted," which limited her creativity. So when it came time to consider college, she wasn't quite ready to make a decision. "I didn't know what any of my interests were," she admitted in an interview with Basic Brainheart. "So I didn't even go to college right away. I went to... an in-between school." That helped give her time to figure things out.
Specifically, the school she attended was The Oxbow School in Napa Valley, CA, which is known for its rigorous art program. "It was amazing and life changing," she continued. "It was like a fast track to building confidence, especially surrounded by art." She credits going there as one of the best decisions she's ever made. It gave her time to explore her interests and figure out what she wanted to do in life. Sounds like an amazing place!
Art school in Chicago
After her positive experience at The Oxbow School, Kimmel was ready to take the plunge and apply to colleges. And after she considered her options, there was one school that she was especially interested in: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. That was the only college she applied to, and of course she was accepted. Girl obviously has the talent!
Given that there are a lot of art colleges out there, what was it about SAIC that attracted her, especially given how far from her home it was? "Some of the teachers at Oxbow had kind of let me know that that was the college that had, like, the most similar curriculum to Oxbow," she shared in an interview with Basic Brainheart. "I was just so happy with like, the environment I was in, that I was like, 'Oh! No brainer!'" Everything was falling perfectly into place! Kimmel graduated from SAID in 2015.
She's a full-time, working multi-media visual artist
With high school, prep school, and college behind her, Kimmel has settled nicely into life as a full-time, multi-media, working artist in Southern California. She works mostly with ceramics, according to an interview she gave to LVL3, which is her primary medium, though she also studied painting and video.
Even though Kimmel is well-established as an artist, she sometimes has a little bit of doubt about her calling herself one. "Sometimes I'll really start to think about my work and I'm like, 'Ok, I'm not an artist, I'm a 10-year-old living in an apartment.' Other times I'm like, 'I AM an artist and my soul is 7 feet tall,'" she mused in an interview with Consort. "I think that is a weird insecurity a lot of artists have — so maybe I became an artist when I started feeling that way." Maybe that's why she's stayed so down-to-earth.
She hopes her art makes you happy
Kimmel makes a conscientious effort to be nice to herself, which is such a breath of fresh air in the Instagram age. In turn, because her art is so personal, that innate self-kindness and appreciation comes across in her art implicitly. "I haven't really considered the bigger intention of putting it out there beyond the actual content of the message," she revealed in an interview with Society6. "But I still want to say it's more intentional than not!" Clearly her work has some pretty rocking vibes!
Even if conveying self-kindness in her work isn't exactly intentional, Kimmel definitely wants her art to bring joy to people. "When I put work out there I hope that people will relate to it in some way," she continued. "I love making something that triggers a forgotten happy memory." We are here for this kind of positive energy!
This is what she's most proud of in her career
With all that Kimmel has accomplished, you might wonder if she's hard-pressed to figure out what her proudest creative moment is. After all, she has a pretty prolific body of work, especially for someone so young. But when she was asked what that might be, she didn't hesitate at all. "I feel like it's definitely the dog vases," she shared in an interview with Basic Brainheart. She then shared a story wherein a stranger she met at a craft fair knew who she was because of them. That's how you know you've arrived, girl!
Kimmel was indeed stoked that someone not only recognized her, but knew who she was because of her creations. "In my head I was like, 'Oh my freaking god! That is so cool," she continued. "I was so excited about it. I bragged about it to 400 people." That has to be an incredible feeling.
Her favorite place is predictably weird
California, the place that Kimmel calls home, is a huge state with tons of amazing places to visit and explore. So it's a bit surprising that Kimmel's favorite place, not just in California but also the world, is something you might never have heard of — and it's very, very weird. So what is it? "The Redondo Beach Fun Factory," she said in an interview with LVL3. "It's this filthy old arcade on the Redondo Beach Pier and it's a lot of fun." That's certainly pretty far from Disneyland, or the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but it definitely fits Kimmel's brand.
Kimmel appreciates it for exactly what it is, too. "The prizes are these pink donut boxes filled with random trash (I've gotten a cut extension chord [sic] and a keychain with my name on it)," she continued. "There is a carnival ride in there too!" If there's a wackier place in Cali, we're not aware of it! Sadly, the Redondo Beach Fun Factory will be closing to make room for a luxury shopping mall, according to Los Angeles Magazine.
She digs scary movies
In 2017, Kimmel spent an extended amount of time staying with a friend in the Mojave Desert. She went out there to get away from the city and focus on making her artwork, which she very successfully did. But while she was out there she picked up a new and unexpected hobby. "I'm starting, actually, to enjoy scary movies," she shared in an interview with Basic Brainheart. "We watched Silent Hill the other day and I really liked it." Eek! That movie isn't playing around.
Afterwards, she and her boyfriend discussed the film on a long car ride, breaking down the plot and identifying different concepts in the film. That's when it dawned on her that, yes, she really does like scary movies after all. She added that she doesn't know how she'd fare in a movie theater (they watched the movies on a small television with spotty internet), where the experience would be more intense.
I hate reading!
We all have our likes and dislikes, our pet peeves and quirks. Of course, so does Kimmel, who's sworn off one particular activity for life. "I never ever read, ever," she revealed in an interview with Basic Brainheart. "I graduated college, I said 'I will never read a book again!'" Sounds like she had to plow through one too many tomes in school, and is having none of it now that she's free.
That disdain isn't just for books either. "Like I said, I hate reading, like even emails," she continued. Well, does anyone like reading emails? Of course her ban on all books isn't exactly universal, as she does recommend one book, and confirmed that she read it: Weird in a World That's Not: A Career Guide for Misfits, F**kups, and Failures by Jennifer Romolini. "It was so good... it's like a self-help book but not like, so preachy," she added.
Guess which celeb she's obsessed with?
If you're lucky enough to get a tour of Kimmel's studio, you might notice that she has some paintings of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson hanging on the wall. And, while it seems like an odd choice for Kimmel — wouldn't she be into someone more quirky or underground? — her love for The Rock is totally sincere. "He is a star!" she exclaimed in an interview with Rooster. "I celebrate his existence everyday." She definitely smells what The Rock is cooking!
Kimmel had a dream come true when she was able to meet him and snap a selfie together, along with one of her portraits of him. "Who knew I'd find my heart in a [four leaf clover emoji] room?? (Me – because I found out where he was, drove there, and waited outside his dressing room for 1.5 hours)," she wrote in a caption on her Instagram page. Now that's commitment.
Was she plagiarized?
Kimmel's father kicked up a bit of dust in 2017 on his daughter's behalf on Twitter. That's because Reformation, a women's clothing designer, advertised a line of shirts that very closely resembles some of Kimmel's own designs. The Carb Collection, as Reformation has branded it, is a series of t-shirts with the names of various kinds of pasta on them. They bear an uncanny resemblance to Kimmel's food shirts.
It's not clear if it's really plagiarism or not, but Reformation denied any wrongdoing in a statement to People magazine. "We have a deep respect for artistic integrity and would never replicate or appropriate the work of a young artist, or any artist for that matter," they said. So hopefully, it's all just a coincidence. Kimmel had a predictably irreverent and hilarious reaction, which she posted on Instagram. She told them she was eating a big burrito, and planned to go fart in their store. Hilarious!
She's engaged!
2019 brought some big news into Kimmel's life. That's right: she got engaged! And of course, the proposal was wildly creative and 100 percent fitting for Kimmel. Her fiancé took her to her favorite place — The Redondo Beach Fun Factory — and hid the engagement ring in one of the pink prize boxes that you can win there. When she found it, she asked him if it was a joke! But seeing him down on one knee, she realized it was real, and said yes. Awwww!
You can see the whole thing on a post on her Instagram page, which of course she captioned hilariously. "After a 3 week whirlwind romance @willllllogsdon asked me the dumbest question I've ever been asked in my whole life! Can't wait to get to know you stranger & thank you to my grandparents @lorienstern @davesclubhouse for not suggesting I take a shower yesterday morning!" What a cut-up!