Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has been pulled from schedules due to his comments about Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting.
US network ABC revealed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would not be broadcast “indefinitely” after the host made controversial implications about the identity of Tyler Robinson, the suspected gunman behind the conservative activist’s killing.
The comment that got Kimmel in hot water featured in Monday’s episode (14 September), when he said: “We had some new lows over the weekend with the Maga gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kimmel also used the subject to mock Donald Trump, showing a viral clip that showed the US president discussing White House renovations when asked how he was faring in the wake of Kirk’s death.
“On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this,” Kimmel said.
In the clip, Trump said he was doing “pretty good”, adding: “And by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”
When the camera cut back to Kimmel, the host said: “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction.
“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”
He added that “there is something wrong” with Trump after showing a separate clip of the president bringing up the renovation while talking about Kirk on Fox & Friends.
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He said that when he heard the news, he “was in the midst of building a great – for 150 years they’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House, right? They don’t have a ballroom; they have to use tents on the lawn for President Xi when he comes over. If it rains, it’s a wipeout.”
At the time of Kirk’s death, while hosting an event at a Utah college on 10 September, Kimmel wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?
“On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”
Trump reacted positively to news of Kimmel’s indefinite axing, posting on Truth Social during his state trip to London: “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.”
The announcement from ABC came soon after Nexstar Media Group, the largest owner of television stations across the country, said it would no longer air Kimmel’s show.
Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcasting group, made up of top network affiliates, with more than 200 owned or partner stations in 116 US markets reaching 220 million people.
“Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets,” said the company in a statement.
Andrew Alford, the President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, added: “Mr Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
Alford added: “Continuing to give Mr Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
ABC’s decision also came after the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threatened to discipline Kimmel if ABC did not act first.
Hours before the decision was made public, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, called Kimmel’s words “truly sick”.
Carr went on to say that his agency could hold ABC, Disney, and Jimmy Kimmel accountable for the comments. He said the comic appeared to be making an intentional effort to mislead the public into believing that Kirk’s assassin was a Trump supporter.
Kimmel was set to address his controversial comments on Wednesday’s episode.
