Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been suspended “indefinitely” by ABC after the veteran host sparked outrage with comments suggesting the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was part of the “MAGA gang,” the network confirmed Wednesday evening.
The dramatic cancellation came after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr threatened regulatory action against the Disney-owned network and Nexstar Media Group, which owns over 200 television stations across America, announced it would preempt the show on its 32 ABC affiliates.
During Monday’s opening monologue, Kimmel, 57, attacked Republicans for their response to Kirk’s assassination, stating: “We hit 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 doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
The comments came just one day after FBI officials and Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed that murder suspect Tyler Robinson, 22, held a “leftist ideology” and had become increasingly radicalised online. Prosecutors revealed inscriptions on bullet casings found at the scene included messages such as “Hey fascist! CATCH!” whilst Robinson’s father confirmed his son had “become more political and had started to lean more to the left, becoming more pro-gay and trans rights oriented.”
Kimmel also mocked President Donald Trump’s response to the killing of Kirk, who founded the conservative youth organisation Turning Point USA. After Trump told reporters he was “holding up” well and discussed White House renovations, Kimmel quipped: “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”
Nexstar Media President Andrew Alford announced Wednesday that his company’s stations would stop airing the programme, stating: “Mr Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse. We do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
The company 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.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, appearing on “The Benny Show” podcast earlier Wednesday, branded Kimmel’s comments “some of the sickest conduct possible” and warned of potential regulatory consequences for ABC and its parent company Disney.
“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr stated. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Carr explicitly called on broadcasters to “push back” against ABC, warning they faced “the possibility of licence revocation from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion.”
Sinclair Broadcast Group, another major station owner, announced it would air a one-hour tribute special to Kirk on Friday night in Kimmel’s usual time slot across its ABC-affiliated stations. The company demanded Kimmel apologise directly to Kirk’s family and make a “meaningful” donation to Kirk’s organisation, Turning Point USA.
President Trump celebrated the cancellation on Truth Social early Thursday morning, declaring it “great news for America.”
“The ratings-challenged Jimmy Kimmel show is CANCELLED,” Trump wrote. “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.”
The President added: “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on fake news NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot on September 10 whilst speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, as part of Turning Point USA’s “American Comeback” tour. Robinson was arrested within 33 hours of the shooting after his father recognised him from FBI photos and drove him to authorities.
Robinson, a third-year electrical apprentice at Dixie Technical College, has been charged with aggravated murder, with prosecutors announcing their intent to seek the death penalty. He also faces charges of felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily injury, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Court documents revealed Robinson had left a note for his roommate stating: “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.” In subsequent messages, he wrote: “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
The suspension marks a dramatic fall for Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which had run for 22 years since its debut in January 2003. The show ironically emerged from the ashes of another controversy when ABC cancelled Bill Maher’s “Politically Incorrect” in 2002 following backlash over comments about the 9/11 attacks.
Free speech advocates immediately condemned ABC’s decision. The Writers Guild of America stated: “If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn’t have bothered to write it into the Constitution. The WGA stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.”
The American Civil Liberties Union called the suspension “government overreach,” whilst comedian Wanda Sykes posted on Instagram: “So, let’s see: He didn’t end the Ukraine war or solve Gaza within his first week, but he did end freedom of speech within his first year.
An audience lined up outside the Hollywood Boulevard studio where the show tapes was turned away Wednesday evening. Tommy Williams, who had travelled from Jacksonville, Florida, told reporters: “They waited to pull the plug on this right as the studio audience was about to walk in. They didn’t tell us what had happened. They just said that the show was cancelled.”
Kimmel’s suspension follows CBS’s cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” earlier this year, which the network claimed was “purely a financial decision” but which critics attributed to pressure from the Trump administration.
The controversy has intensified debate over political violence and free speech in America, with multiple media figures losing their positions over comments about Kirk’s assassination. MSNBC fired analyst Matthew Dowd after suggesting Kirk’s “hateful thoughts” had led to “hateful actions,” whilst Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah was dismissed for speaking out “against political violence” in relation to the shooting.
Kimmel, whose contract runs until May 2026, has not publicly responded to the suspension. ABC’s statement provided no timeline for when or if the show might return to air.
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Image Credit:
Jimmy Kimmel (8 June 2022) — photo by Erin Scott / White House Photographer, public domain.
