Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been pulled from ABC’s programming “indefinitely” over the host’s recent comments following Charlie Kirk’s death.
The right-wing activist was shot in the neck and killed at Utah Valley University campus on September 10, where he was hosting his first event as part of his America Comeback Tour. Kirk was 31 years old.
Following the shooting, Kimmel said during his Monday night monologue that all signs point to Kirk’s shooter being a Trump supporter: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterise this kid who killed 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 while the White House largely ignored the school shootings that happened on September 10, and mocked the president’s reaction to the 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 gold fish,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel’s monologue drew a number of complaints from viewers, forcing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr to seemingly threaten immediate action against Kimmel, the ABC network and its owner Disney for the comments.
Nexstar, an affiliate of ABC, then said it would be pre-empting Jimmy Kimmel Live! episodes for the foreseeable future, prompting the ABC network to pull the show indefinitely.
President Donald Trump – who has recently been targeting late-night talkshow hosts that have called him out – took to his Truth Social platform to celebrate: “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.”
Trump then turned his attention to Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, whose shows have not been cancelled or suspended: “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”
Speaking to YouTuber Benny Johnson yesterday (September 17), FCC chair Carr said: “[This] appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into the narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person. What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
BREAKING: The FCC Chairman is threatening immediate action against Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, and Disney for deliberately misleading the public by claiming Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA Conservative.
Chairman Brendan Carr calls Kimmel’s malicious lies are “truly sick” and says they… pic.twitter.com/mGhtGMPReI
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 17, 2025
Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, called Kimmel’s comments “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”. “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,” Alford said.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kimmel was set to address the matter on Wednesday night’s show, but wasn’t going to apologise for his comments. He has yet to publicly comment on the show’s suspension.
Kirk’s alleged shooter Tyler Robinson has been charged over the killing and is facing the death penalty if convicted at trial. He was not registered to any political party and did not vote in the 2022 and 2024 elections.
The news of Kimmel’s show being suspended comes on the same day that the creators of South Park delayed its latest episode, claiming they were unable to complete it in time. However, fans have begun speculating that the episode was planning to involve Kirk in some fashion, but wasn’t cleared to air.
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