Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled off the air “indefinitely” on Wednesday after the late-night talk show host made remarks earlier in the week about Charlie Kirk, the conservative activist who was fatally shot last week.
ABC did not publicly explain the decision, but the move came after Nexstar Media Group — which owns the largest number of local television stations in the United States — said that it would be removing the show from its ABC affiliate stations.
During his Sept. 15 show, Kimmel said the “MAGA gang” — i.e., supporters of President Trump and his “Make America great again” slogan — was trying to “score political points” by calling Robinson a left-wing radical.
“The MAGA Gang [is] 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, adding, “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
In a statement posted to Nexstar’s website, Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, called Kimmel’s comments concerning the death of Kirk “offensive and insensitive” and said that they do not “reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
“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,” the statement continued.
What is Nexstar? What are affiliate stations?
Nexstar Media Group, headquartered in Irving, Texas, owns and operates local television stations across the United States, many of which are affiliates of major networks, including ABC. Affiliates are local TV stations that are independently owned but broadcast programming from major national networks.
Nexstar provides the local channels, or affiliates, so that people can watch these national programs in their cities along with local news and other programming.
Nexstar, which owns more than 200 stations, is currently seeking the Trump administration’s approval for a $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, another major U.S. broadcaster. Should the merger go through — it requires regulatory approvals — the combined company will have stations in most of the top TV markets, giving it more advertising power and a bigger national presence.
What does it mean to “preempt” Jimmy Kimmel Live!?
To “preempt” programming means not to air the show and instead replace it with another programming option, as sometimes happens for breaking news or special events.
How is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) involved?
ABC’s decision to pull Kimmel off the air comes on the heels of backlash from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who appeared on conservative commenter Benny Johnson’s The Benny Show to speak about the comments Kimmel made. He called the talk show host’s choice of words “the sickest conduct possible,” alleging that Kimmel was “[playing] into the narrative that [the shooting suspect] was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person.”
“What people don’t understand,” Carr said, is that broadcasters “have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on the podcast. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Carr was nominated as an FCC commissioner in 2017 by Trump during his first term. Trump then appointed Carr as chairman in January 2025, when he took office for his second term.
This is not the first time that Carr has called out programs for their content, specifically over what he perceives to be a political bias against conservatives. Earlier this year, Carr initiated an inquiry into CBS News’ 60 Minutes interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The investigation focused on whether CBS News had violated FCC rules by editing the interview in a way that allegedly favored Harris. 60 Minutes denied the allegations, and ultimately the FCC did not impose penalties on CBS.
In July, Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, settled a lawsuit with Trump over the editing of the interview for $16 million. A month later, the FCC approved the merger of Paramount Global and Skydance. Carr pushed back against critics who claimed that the approval was hinged on settling the lawsuit with Trump.
Other late-night talk show turmoil
The news of Kimmel’s show getting pulled off the air comes after Stephen Colbert’s program, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, was canceled by CBS. The show was canceled in July, after CBS News settled with Trump. On his show, Colbert called Paramount Global’s settling with Trump a “big fat bribe.”
In a statement, Paramount Global said the move was purely a “financial decision” against a “challenging backdrop in late night” and that it was “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.”
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