Jimmy Kimmel has the chance to be bigger than ever following the talk show host’s controversial ABC late-night suspension, podcaster Joe Rogan has predicted.
Rogan said that Jimmy Kimmel Live viewership will likely soar after a massive public outcry over ABC’s decision to preempt the show “indefinitely” last week due to Kimmel’s on-air comments about the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
“The internet is just buck wild, and the internet you can’t do anything about,” Rogan said on Tuesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. “I certainly think that for Jimmy Kimmel, all this does is help him. It makes his show bigger, much more support. I’m sure there’s a lot of hate as well, which is not fun.”
ABC announced Monday it will resume airing Kimmel’s show, but Rogan’s latest episode appears to have been filmed beforehand. The podcaster correctly predicted Kimmel’s show would only be suspended for “a short amount of time,” then brought back.
“He comes back to a standing ovation, Donald Trump tweets mean s*** about him, and then the world moves on,” Rogan added.
Kimmel’s show was suspended over comments he made on-air about Kirk’s murder. Kirk was killed on September 10 while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Police have since arrested and charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson in connection with his murder.
“We had some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA gang desperately trying to 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,” Kimmel said on September 15.
Kimmel’s remarks prompted outrage, particularly among conservatives. ABC suspended Kimmel’s show after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called the host’s statement “truly sick” and suggested ABC’s license could be at risk over it. Nexstar and Sinclair also announced they would preempt Kimmel’s program last week.
Trump praised the decision on Truth Social, congratulating ABC for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
Rogan also pondered how Trump has time to post online about talk show hosts while serving as president.
“I think that is also f****** insane,” Rogan said. “I don’t have time to do that. How do you have time to do that? How do you have time, while you’re running the world, to be tweeting that you don’t like talk show hosts?”
Before ABC changed course, big names in Hollywood and politics — including former President Barack Obama — decried the network’s decision and raised questions about free speech. More than 400 celebrities — including Jennifer Aniston and Meryl Streep — signed an open letter condemning the move, while protests against the announcement erupted outside of Kimmel’s Hollywood studio.
Disney, ABC’s parent company, said the network will continue airing Kimmel’s show after speaking with the host about his “ill-timed and thus insensitive” comments.
“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” Disney said in a statement on Monday.
However, Nexstar and Sinclair will continue to preempt Kimmel’s show on their affiliate networks, the companies said this week.
Meanwhile, Kimmel broke his silence on Tuesday afternoon by posting a photograph of himself with the late TV writer Norman Lear — a vocal defender of the First Amendment — on his personal Instagram.
Kimmel captioned the photo: “Missing this guy today.”
