Why Vivica A. Fox Was Banned From Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The world of celebrity beef is strange, byzantine, and always feels like "B" plot lines from decades-old soap operas. Case in point: prolific actress Vivica A. Fox has been banned by longtime talk show host Jimmy Kimmel from ever appearing on his late-night show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" The comedian and the actress came to blows over a very awkward on-air interview involving Fox's friend Star Jones, an erstwhile host of the hit series "The View." The interview has since been removed from YouTube and any other online sources, but the confrontation was recalled with clarity in an article on the Nicki Swift website. 

Fans of Jimmy Kimmel might know that he has an occasional propensity to dogpile in on certain random celebrities, usually for no discernible reason. He notoriously sparked a fake rivalry with Matt Damon, one might recall, that lasted for years. Kimmel would claim that Damon was in the green room at every one of the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" tapings, but that the show always ran a little too long to bring him out. Kimmel would apologize on the air for ignoring Damon, sometimes taking a little too much pleasure in the apology. This fake "rivalry" led to extended comedy bits and even musical numbers. Kimmel's onetime girlfriend and fellow talk show host Sarah Silverman, once getting in on the joke, once wrote and performed a song — with Matt Damon — called "I'm F***ing Matt Damon." Kimmel responded in kind.

Kimmel, in the mid-2000s, also liked to josh Star Jones, using her as a punchline to a lot of his jokes. Jones had no personal beef with Kimmel, but she was an outsize personality, making her a target for Kimmel and other comedians. Vivica Fox, however, was close with Jones and didn't like Kimmel's digs at her friend. In 2005, Fox told off Kimmel on the air. Kimmel, to avoid any further awkwardness, disinvited Fox to his show in perpetuity. 

Fox and Jones had been friends for years, and, according to the Nicki Swift article, Fox served as a bridesmaid at Jones' wedding to Al Reynolds in 2004. The article recounted a gag that Kimmel made at Jones' expense, back in 2005 when Fox was on his show. Kimmel, introduced Fox by counting some of her more notable film credits, including the oft-referenced 1996 blockbuster "Independence Day," before adding that of her credits, the "most harrowing of all" was being "Star Jones' bridesmaid." 

Fox walked onto the stage peeved, and sat next to Kimmel, explaining that he was taking his fake rivalry with Jones too far. "We usually have really great comical moments," Fox said, "but that's my friend and I love her ... It's not funny to me, so let's start over." Kimmel kept the mood light, however, suggesting that the four of them — He, Fox, Jones, and her new husband — gather together to clear the air. Fox, not amused by the light suggestion and miffed by his total lack of attrition, declared that such a meeting would result in Kimmel getting his "ass kicked." She then left the stage in a huff. She hasn't been on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" since. 

Nine years later, in 2014, Kimmel appeared on the talk show "Watch What Happens Live" (sadly, also taken off the internet) to talk about the 2005 interview with Fox. It seems that the interview had already put Fox in an awkward position, as Star Jones was already angry with Kimmel. Fox, in agreeing to be on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" angered her friend, and Fox likely felt the need to prove her loyalty to Jones by confronting Kimmel.

The way Kimmel put it was: 

"She may have been invited to Star Jones' wedding and I may have asked her if I could be the date to that wedding and Star Jones may hate me and may have yelled at her, and she may have been very angry when [Fox] came back to our show." 

Kimmel mocked Jones a lot, but he tended to mock every celebrity. Indeed, sometimes he seemed to lampoon the very concept of celebrity, as when he invited famous people to log onto Twitter and read the most casually cruel things that Twitter users had said about them. The "Mean Tweets" bit lasted for years. Kimmel might have been telling the truth when he said he wanted to attend Jones' wedding as Fox's date, and was certainly not cruel enough to interrupt Jones' nuptials for a comedy bit. But there was so much animosity, no clearance of the air was to be had. Kimmel, to avoid any further awkwardness, simply refused to have Fox back on his show. 

Fox also appeared on "Watch What Happens Live" in 2015 and admitted that she didn't even know about the ban. She said that she was a "ride or die" kind of friend, and simply couldn't abide the mockery of Star Jones. It wasn't until she had run into Kimmel at "a live event" at some point that the comedian apologized to Fox for the ban. Fox said that the ban was news to her. "Wow, that's old," she said. 

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" is still airing to this day. Fox starred in the sequel to "Independence Day," and dozens of movies besides. She will soon appear in the 2025 film "Like Father Like Son."