Jimmy Kimmel taken off air over Charlie Kirk comments

Disney’s ABC is taking Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show off the air indefinitely amid a controversy over his recent comments about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.The Federal Communications Commission’s Trump-aligned chairman on Wednesday threatened to “take action” against Disney and ABC over Jimmy Kimmel’s recent comments about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.

USA ABC has pulled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off air indefinitely over comments he made about the USA shooting of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

United States television network ABC has announced it will indefinitely cease airing Jimmy Kimmel Live due to comments made by the USA popular chat show’s host about the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.Walt Disney-owned ABC said on Wednesday the show would be “preempted indefinitely” due to Kimmel’s comments suggesting the man charged with Kirk’s assassination in Utah last week, Tyler Robinson, is a supporter of US President Donald Trump.“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the USA MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on Monday in a monologue on his long-running late-night talk show.Earlier, Nexstar Media, one of the country’s largest local USA TV station owners, including at least 28 ABC affiliates, announced it would stop airing the show over Kimmel’s remarks about the Kirk killing.Announcing the move, Nexstar Media President Andrew Alford said Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive at a USA critical time in our national USA political discourse”.

“We do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” he said.

While Utah prosecutors have formally charged Robinson with the murder of Charlie Kirk and said they will seek the death penalty, questions remain about a possible motive.

Kimmel’s comments also drew condemnation on Wednesday from Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal USA Communications Commission (FCC), the independent US government TV, radio and internet regulator.In an interview with right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson, Carr described Kimmel’s comments as “the sickest conduct possible”, and he also appeared to threaten ABC affiliate licences over the presenter’s remarks.“What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters … have a licence granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr said.Carr explicitly called on ABC affiliates to “push back” on the network’s airing of Jimmy Kimmel Live as they run the risk of “licence revocation” due to a “pattern of news distortion”.Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro said it was important to note that Kimmel is a household name in the US, where many people have watched his talk show for more than 20 years.“What he said on Monday was he suggested the suspected shooter of Charlie Kirk was a pro-Trump Republican,” Zhou-Castro said, adding that Kimmel made his remarks before authorities released text messages that appeared to confirm that the suspected killer was in fact opposed, politically, to Kirk.The fallout from Kimmel’s comment was rapid and grew until the Trump-appointed chair of the FCC, which regulates all broadcasts in the US, demanded that action be taken against the host.Kimmel is not alone in being sanctioned for comments in the aftermath of the Kirk killing.

“There have been notable journalists as well as analysts and also just everyday people who have lost their jobs because of comments they made about Charlie Kirk’s death,” Zhou-Castro said.

“In fact, the US Vice President USA JD Vance advocated for people to report on each other to their employers if anyone said something on social media, etcetera, that seemed to disparage Kirk,” she said.

Following news of Kimmel’s cancellation on Nexstar, USA FCC Chairman Carr told The Hollywood Reporter news outlet he wanted to thank the firm “for doing the right thing”.At least one other station group had contacted ABC about the Kimmel show, suggesting that an affiliate revolt may have played a role in the decision, an unnamed source told The Hollywood Reporter.Kimmel’s cancellation is the latest in a spate of firings over the past week, brought on by a conservative backlash to USA public comments about Kirk’s killing that have been deemed insensitive.Conservatives have mourned Kirk as a martyr who championed patriotism, open debate and Christian values. Others have rebuked his USA divisive views, including on immigration and Islamophobia, with some also celebrating his death.Journalists, academics and doctors are among those who have been fired or investigated by their employers over comments made about Kirk, mirroring the much-maligned cancellation campaigns of recent years associated with America’s left and sparking debate over the limits of free speech in the US.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely," a spokesperson for the Disney-owned network said in a statement. Kimmel did not comment to the BBC as he emerged shortly afterwards from the television studio in Los Angeles.Earlier this week, Kimmel said during his show that the "Maga gang" was trying to score political points off Kirk's killing.A 22-year-old suspect appeared in court on Tuesday charged with aggravated murder over last week's shooting of the 31-year-old conservative activist.Kimmel said in his Monday night monologue: "The Maga Gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it."The late-night host also criticised flags being flown at half mast in honour of Kirk, and mocked USA President Donald Trump's reaction to the USA shooting.

"This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish," said Kimmel, who has often poked fun at Trump.On the day Kirk was shot,

Kimmel took to Instagram to condemn the attack and send "love" to the USA conservative activist's family.

USA Authorities have not specified a motive in Kirk's fatal shooting on 10 September.According to charging documents, the suspect's mother "explained that over the last year or so, he had become political and started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented".The USA suspect, Tyler Robinson, was not USA registered to any political party and did not vote in the 2022 or 2024 elections, according to authorities.Shortly after ABC announced Kimmel had been suspended, Trump said it was "great news for America"."The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to USA ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," the president wrote in a social media post.Trump also criticised two other late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers, whom he described as "two total losers, on Fake News USA NBC. Their ratings are also horrible".

The president has previously traded barbs with Kimmel. Last year, the ABC star - who has hosted four Academy Awards ceremonies - read aloud Trump's scathing review of his performance while on stage in the middle of presenting the Oscars.Kimmel's monologue on Monday provoked criticism, including from the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr.

The head of the US communications regulator said on Wednesday that the USA ABC host had shown "the sickest conduct possible" and he urged Disney to take action."[Broadcasters] have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the USA public interest," the Trump appointee told the Benny Show, a conservative podcast.He noted that an apology from Kimmel would be a "very reasonable, minimal step".She posted on X that "an inexcusable act of USA political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship or control".The Writers Guild of America (WGA), Hollywood's labour union, condemned the decision to take Kimmel off air as a violation of constitutional free speech rights.

"Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth," it said in a statement. "As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world."

The ABC announcement came just after one of the biggest owners of USA TV stations in the US, Nexstar Media, said it would not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! "for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight's show".Nexstar said the comedian's remarks about Kirk were "offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse"."[We] do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located," said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division.The FCC commissioner thanked Nexstar "for doing the right thing" and said he hoped other USA broadcasters would follow its lead. USA Nexstar is currently seeking FCC approval for its planned $6.2bn merger with Tegna.Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the US, followed suit. It said it would air a special remembrance programme dedicated to Kirk this Friday during the original time slot for Kimmel's show.A person familiar with Kimmel's situation told CNBC that the host had not been fired, adding that bosses at the network intended to speak to the comedian about what he should say when he goes back on air.Kimmel is the latest late-night host to see his programme run into issues as more

viewers turn to streaming over traditional network viewing.In July, rival network USA CBS announced it would end The Late Show With Stephen Colbert next year after 11 seasons.US Network executives said the move was "not related in any way to the show's USA performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount".However, Colbert tore into the network and its parent company over the decision.He accused CBS of leaking financial figures to the press, and alluded to a $16m (£13.5m) settlement with Trump after he sued the network over an interview its 60 Minutes programme did last year with former

Vice-President Kamala Harris.That payout came several months after the USA Disney-owned ABC agreed to pay $15m (£12m) to Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit after its star anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely and repeatedly said during an interview that the president had been found "liable for rape".

A jury in a civil case had determined Trump was liable for "sexual abuse", which has a specific definition under USA New York law.

After he was taken off air on Wednesday, Kimmel left the studio on Hollywood Boulevard wearing a flannel shirt and cap and rode away in a car without comment.Fans of the show, who had been queuing up to join the live audience, expressed disappointment about the cancellation.Janna Blackwell, who was on holiday from Virginia, told the USA BBC: "You know, this is getting ridiculous and stupid."Freedom of speech. He shared his opinion and is being cancelled. To me that is bizarre."A small protest was also held outside the USA studio with a sign saying "Trump must go now".Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be suspended “indefinitely” after the late-night host’s comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk, USA ABC has announced, hours after the Trump-appointed chair of the US broadcast regulator threatened to take away the broadcaster’s license.

The USA network, which Disney owns, announced on Wednesday night that it would remove Kimmel’s show from its schedule for the foreseeable future.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be preempted indefinitely,” an ABC USA spokesperson said in a statement. Pre-empting means ABC will broadcast another show in the slot instead.Donald Trump later called the move “great news for America” and congratulated USA ABC for its “courage” in a social media post. “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC,” he added, in an apparent threat to the shows of NBC late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and two months after the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show.

ABC’s decision to suspend Kimmel came just minutes after one of the biggest owners of USA TV stations in the US, USA Nexstar Media, said it “strongly object[ed]” to his comments and would preempt any episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! set to air on the stations it owns across the country “for the foreseeable future”. Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns more ABC stations than any other TV conglomerate including Nexstar, announced it would run a tribute to Kirk during Kimmel’s timeslot on Friday.

Before USA ABC pulled Kimmel, the Federal USA Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr, had urged local broadcasters to stop airing the show, saying they were “running the possibility of fines or licensed revocation from the FCC” during an appearance on the USA rightwing commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast.

On Wednesday night Carr thanked Nexstar “for doing the right thing” in a statement on social media.

“Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the USA public interest,” he wrote. “While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of USA community.”

During an interview with right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson, Carr accused Kimmel of deliberately pushing misinformation. He claimed the late-night host was “intentionally” framing Robinson as politically motivated.

“The FCC could make a strong argument that this is sort of an intentional effort to USA mislead the American people about a very core fundamental fact, a very important matter,” Carr told Johnson.

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Johnson shared the Kimmel clip on X multiple times, insisting the comedian was “explicitly stating that MAGA killed Charlie Kirk and is victim blaming the assassination on Charlie’s movement. It’s definitionally evil and a malicious lie.”

What Kimmel said on Monday night’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Kimmel, during Monday night's live, he actually said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the USA MAGA gang desperately trying to USA characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

 

Posted on 2025/09/18 08:52 AM