Harger: We find something pure and we love it so hard we ruin it. Jimothy needs an exit strategy

Jimothy is a sensation. One week ago, we first brought you the story of this goofy raccoon on Seattle’s Morning News.

Every day since, the Jimothy content has multiplied.

By Monday, Jon Stewart was talking about him on The Daily Show.

By Tuesday, there were Jimothy bobbleheads.

Wednesday, Jimothy made the Roku screensaver.

Yesterday, the White House posted a picture of Jimothy in a red hat, headed to Washington, DC. I think it was AI.

Go to Google right now and type in “Jimothy,” and an animation of the furball traipses across your screen. By next week, maybe Alaska Airlines replaces the guy on the plane tail with Jimothy.

Peak. Jimothy. Content.

It needs to stop.

Wouldn’t it be fun to just … let him go out on top? Years from now, we’d look back on the summer of 2026 with a fond memory. Hey, remember that crazy-looking raccoon? What was his name? Timothy? Jimmy? Oh, Jimothy. That’s right.

Because we know where this is headed. Jimothy is about to jump the shark. Maybe this weekend. Maybe next month. But at some point there’ll be one post too many. We’ll get bored. Or worse, Jimothy will disappoint us.

One day he’s the strange-looking young raccoon everybody adores. The next, he’s a middle-aged raccoon with a bad back. He refuses to go to physical therapy.

He tells himself the gummies every night are just to help him sleep. Why can’t he sleep?

He owes his ex-wife child support. His kids say he’s distant. They can’t connect.

He starts a podcast. It gets 11 downloads. He gets an unfortunate tattoo. He’s doing Cameos for fifteen bucks.

He’s at a strip mall in Federal Way, signing autographs at a mattress store grand opening. Nobody’s in line.

He hasn’t paid his credit card bill in months. They want their money. The collection agency calls go unanswered. He’s not answering any calls at that number. Why do they keep calling.

He’s got a burner phone for his side raccoon, anyway. His FICO score is shot.

He forgets his mother’s birthday.

His car is broken down again, and his landlord says he can’t just keep that piece of junk parked there.

He asks his agent why the bobblehead money dried up. His agent stopped returning his calls in October.

And then late one night, down at the pond, washing those little paws, he takes a long look at his reflection in the moonlight. He doesn’t recognize the raccoon staring back. He doesn’t like what he sees. What he’s become.

He didn’t ask for any of this

A week ago, Jimothy was a raccoon. That’s it. He was eating garbage and climbing fences and doing whatever raccoons do at 2 a.m. He had a life. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was honest work.

We did this to him. We saw a funny-looking raccoon, and we couldn’t just enjoy it for a day. We had to share it. We had to screenshot it and repost it and make it our profile picture. We had to turn him into merch. We had to put him on a bobblehead and a screensaver and a hat.

We took a perfectly happy raccoon, and we gave him a brand deal, an agent, and an anxiety disorder. Every click, every share, every “OMG Jimothy” in a group chat was another step toward that pond.

We built the pedestal Jimothy is hunched atop right now. We’ll be the ones who knock it over.

That’s what we do. We find something pure, and we love it so hard we ruin it. Then we make a six-part Netflix documentary about how fame destroyed him.

It doesn’t have to be that way. The greats knew when to walk away. The Beatles were the biggest band in the world when they split. Seinfeld left at number one. Barry Sanders retired with the rushing record in sight.

Jimothy deserves the same grace.

Go home, Jimothy. The dumpster’s waiting.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

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