Desus Nice made his solo debut as a special guest host on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday (August 15).
During his time as host, The Bronx, New York native wasted no time cracking jokes about COVID-19, President Joe Biden and, of course, his hometown.
“It’s good to see Biden is bouncing back from COVID,” he began. “Because according to new guidelines from the CDC — we no longer have to quarantine anymore if we’ve been exposed to the virus. That’s right. We’re moving from the ‘pandemic’ phase to the ‘fuck it’ phase.”
Desus Nice then joked about living in a post-pandemic NYC where there are very little excuses to get out of work.
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“I’m actually kinda mad about this because the CDC just took away our best excuse to get out of work,” Nice joked. “Hey a guy coughed on me on the L train, and I gotta take the rest of the month off — out of an abundance of caution.”
Comedian Jerrod Carmichael and Lakers owner and president Jeanie Buss served as guests on the show. Desus’ debut comes after the drama of the Desus & Mero show coming to an end in July 2022. The news was revealed on social media by the series’ official Twitter account after rumors suspected there to be tension between the co-hosts.
In early August, Mero sat down for an interview on the Basic! podcast and revealed that the Showtime duo had openly discussed pursuing other interests.
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“Desus and I had discussed pursuing separate interests over a year before the show came to an end, and that conversation solidified us in signing overall agreements that recognized our intent to operate independent of one another,” Mero disclosed. “As far back as June of last year, we were both pitching or looking to join existing projects as individuals.”
He continued: “It’s not like I’m breaking up with my girlfriend on the phone. It was a strategy and one that we all agreed on.”
Elsewhere he said the partnership with Desus was coming to a natural end, and that they didn’t want to force anything.
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“At the end of the day, when things are winding down you got to recognize that they are winding down and not supermax Patrick Ewing when he has two [knee pads] and his career is coming to a close.”
