US Broadcasting Station ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show indefinitely on Wednesday. Comments on Charlie Kirk’s murder have been suspended indefinitely after an affiliate station group said they would not air the show.
According to a statement from Andrew Alford, chairman of the broadcasting division of Nexstar, which operates 23 ABC affiliates, Kimmel’s comments on Kirk’s death are “aggressive and insensitive at a critical period in our nation’s political discourse.”
The late-night comic of the veteran, who recently won the game show’s standout host and Emmy, spoke out about her reaction to Charlie Kirk’s assassination on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday and Tuesday nights.
Kimmel, among other statements, said, “Many of the land in the Maga works very hard to exploit the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
Kimmel said Trump’s response to the death of a conservative activist was “not a way for adults to grieve the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old child grieves the goldfish.”
The ABC Network acted quickly after Nexstar Communications Group announced on Wednesday that it would cancel the program.
Kimmel’s late-night show has been airing by ABC since 2003, and Kimmel’s contract expires in May next year.
Trump celebrates Kimmel’s Yankoff
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, who is currently visiting the UK, took him to Truth Social, a social media platform, to celebrate the ABC move.
“Congratulations to ABC for having the courage to do what they ultimately have to do.”
Earlier that day, Brendan Kerr, chairman of the US regulator FCC, called Kimmel’s comments “really ill,” saying his agency had a strong case to hold Kimmel, ABC and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for the spread of misinformation.
He argued that the comic appears to be making a deliberate effort to mislead the public to believe Kirk’s assassin is a right-wing Trump supporter.
Kimmel suggested during a monologue Monday evening that Kirk’s murderer Tyler Robinson was suspected, but could have been a Trump Republican.
“The Magagang is desperately trying to characterize this child who kills Charlie Kirk as something other than one person and does everything he can to score political points from there,” Kimmel said. “There was sadness between my points.”
“This is a very serious problem for Disney right now,” Kerr told the Benny Johnson podcast. “We can do this in a simple or difficult way. These companies can find ways to take action in Kimmel, or there will be additional work beyond the FCC.”
Details of what Kimmel said on his show
Jimmy returned to the topic on Tuesday night, chuckling at the performance of Vice President JD Vance as guest host for Kirk’s podcast.
He said Trump was “inciting flames” by attacking people on the left. “Which is that? Because they’re too scared to be hit by tennis balls or by a well-organized, deadly commando team.
American far-right campaigner and co-founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk was shot dead last week on September 10th and discussed at a Utah campus event in Utah Valley. His death surprised the United States, exposing deep divisions in what was already biased and charged with political climate.
Many of the comments and strong political views of the prominent Trump allies have sparked controversy, as liberals and opponents rejected attempts to respect his life.
In response, the Trump administration and his Maga base have stepped up efforts to police speeches about Kirk’s death.
Earlier this week, Kirk’s friend, Vice President of the United States JD Vance, urged Americans to attract fellow citizens who laughed at the assassination, and Kerr launched an investigation into the outlet that angered Trump.