10 Jimmy Kimmel Pranks that Split the Audience

Jimmy Kimmel has been engineering pranks for decades—some small and goofy, others elaborate hoaxes that fooled major outlets, and a few that sparked headline-making celebrity dust-ups. The setups are usually simple; the scale and aftermath rarely are. This article rounds up ten stunts and running bits that regularly divided viewers, pinpointing what happened on camera, who helped pull the strings, and how each one played out once the reveal hit.

You’ll find viral hoaxes planted online, street experiments built to test brand loyalty, and long-term prank wars that turned into seasonal traditions. Each entry explains the mechanics, the participants, and the documented outcomes—on air, across social platforms, and in follow-up segments on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’.

The ‘Worst Twerk Fail EVER’ Hoax

A viral clip showed a woman twerking against a door, tumbling onto a table, and appearing to catch fire. Days later, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ brought the “victim” onstage and confirmed she was a stunt performer hired by the show, revealing the video had been staged from the start and seeded online to look like a spontaneous fail.

The show aired behind-the-scenes footage identifying the performer and explaining how the scene was choreographed and shot to mimic a casual phone recording. The reveal outlined the prop setup, the timing of the cut, and the edit choices that made the flames look accidental.

The Sochi “Wolf in the Hallway” Video

U.S. luger Kate Hansen posted a short video that appeared to show a wolf walking down an Olympic dorm hallway. On ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, Kimmel disclosed that his team had built a replica hallway in Los Angeles and filmed a trained animal to create the clip, coordinating with Hansen to publish it from her account.

The segment detailed how reference photos of the real dorm informed the set build, how the trained animal was handled safely, and how the upload timing was designed to maximize believability before the show revealed the production.

The Halloween Candy YouTube Challenge

Each year after Halloween, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ asks parents to tell their children “I ate all your Halloween candy” and record the reactions, which the show then compiles into a montage. The bit generates thousands of submissions and consistent, high-traffic uploads on the show’s channels.

Over time, the program has standardized the call-to-action, the submission windows, and the montage format. The compilations typically include a mix of home-video angles, brief set-ups from parents, and bleeped language to meet broadcast standards.

‘Lie Witness News’ at Coachella

In a festival-focused installment of the man-on-the-street series ‘Lie Witness News’, producers asked attendees about non-existent bands and solicited opinions on fake tracks and lineups. Interviewees frequently responded as if the acts were real, providing quotes that the show later edited into a single segment.

The production relied on a roaming crew, a prepared list of fabricated names, and rapid-fire questioning to capture usable material. Subsequent airings and reposts catalogued the most striking answers and established the template for later editions around major events.

The Aunt Chippy “Fake Sonogram”

Kimmel and Cousin Sal brought Aunt Chippy to a real imaging office, where a sham technician played a pre-rendered sonogram animation created by the show’s graphics team. The clip showed the “baby” making exaggerated gestures while hidden cameras recorded Chippy’s reactions before the reveal.

The segment employed a practical location, performers with earpieces, and controlled playback synced to scripted beats. After the reveal, the show walked through the prop pipeline, including how the animations were timed to match the technician’s patter.

The Apple “New Gadget” Street Tests

Producers presented passers-by with older or unrelated Apple hardware while claiming it was the latest device, then recorded first-impressions. In one iteration, a basic digital watch received an Apple logo and was introduced as a just-announced product; in another, a previous-generation phone was labeled as a new model.

The crew gathered reactions on camera, often asking about imaginary features to see whether participants would endorse them. The finished segments emphasized brand-recognition cues, the effects of expectation, and how labeling influenced the language people used to describe performance.

The Kanye West “Kids Re-Kreation” and On-Air Summit

After ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ aired a sketch in which children reenacted portions of Kanye West’s radio interview, West responded on social media and later appeared on the show for a full, unbroken discussion. The broadcast included a recap of the initial parody and then the conversation, which covered how the segment was made and why West objected to it.

The episode preserved the exchange as a single extended interview rather than a standard comedy block. Production notes released afterward summarized the booking process, the decision to run the conversation with minimal edits, and the steps the show took to contextualize the original sketch.

Matt Damon “Kidnaps” the Host and Takes Over the Show

As a payoff to the long-running Damon–Kimmel mock feud, Matt Damon staged a takeover of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, complete with an in-studio bit that kept Kimmel seated and gagged while Damon hosted under a new on-screen title card. The show proceeded with Damon introducing guests and callbacks to the feud’s history.

ABC packaged the episode as a special event, rolling out revised graphics, pre-planned cameos, and cold-open gags that matched the “hostile takeover” premise. The production ran like a standard episode in structure—monologue, desk pieces, interviews—while integrating the conceit in each segment.

The John Krasinski & Emily Blunt Holiday Prank War

When Kimmel lived near John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, the trio launched a holiday-season prank war that escalated annually. Past rounds included gift-wrapping entire cars, packing vehicles with ornaments, and transforming Kimmel’s workspace into a themed display, with results later compiled for ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’.

The show documented set builds, remote gags, and studio reveals, sometimes staging live “rematches” after airing taped pranks. Production recaps listed materials, labor hours, and crew roles, highlighting how the team executed large-format visual jokes within tight seasonal windows.

‘Windy City Heat’ (2003)

Before many of the talk-show stunts, Kimmel co-produced ‘Windy City Heat’, a feature-length prank project centered on Perry Caravello, who believed he was starring in a detective film while the “production” was structured to capture his responses. The finished work aired on cable and later circulated on home video and digital platforms.

Credits and retrospectives identify Kimmel among the writers and producers, alongside Adam Carolla and Daniel Kellison, and describe a long development process that blended hidden-camera techniques with a conventional film crew. The project is frequently cited in discussions of large-scale prank productions linked to the team behind ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’.

Share the prank that surprised you most—or the one you think went too far—in the comments.