ABC and its parent company, Disney, have pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air indefinitely, according to numerous reports. ABC said the move is due to his comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel pulled
Kimmel commented on the killing during his opening monologue on Monday.
“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,” Kimmel said during the monologue.
ABC’s decision comes after Nexstar announced it would no longer air Kimmel’s show on any of its more than 20 ABC affiliates across the country.
Nexstar, which is currently in the midst of a $6.2 billion acquisition of fellow broadcaster Tegna that needs approval from the Trump administration, said it will preempt the show due to Kimmel’s remarks.
“I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said on X. “Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”
Carr also threatened to pull the license of ABC and Disney over the show.
Kimmel has not yet commented on either move.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom called out the move on X.
“Buying and controlling media platforms. Firing commentators. Canceling shows. These aren’t coincidences. It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous. The @GOP does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time,” Newsom wrote.
Kimmel’s monologue
Kimmel joked during the monologue about the president’s response to the killing. Specifically, the moment a reporter in a group of others, also asking questions, asked how Trump was feeling after Kirk was killed.
“I think very good,” Trump said. “And by the way, right there you see all the trucks. They just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”
Kimmel went on to joke, “he’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction.”
Reaction to the shooting
Kimmel is the latest media personality to be pulled off the air for comments made regarding Kirk’s killing.
MSNBC fired political analyst Matthew Dowd for his comments, which included calling Kirk “divisive.”
While Kimmel alluded to Kirk’s killer as possibly being MAGA, several Republicans, including Trump, immediately blamed Democrats for the shooting before the arrest took place.
Fox News Host Jesse Watters immediately claimed, “They are at war with us.”
