Jimmy Kimmel Live returned to air just over two weeks ago after ABC and Disney suspended the show after Jimmy Kimmel criticized right-wingers for trying to “score political points” off the murder of Charlie Kirk in a monologue. During an interview at the Bloomberg Screentime media conference in Hollywood, Kimmel extended criticism towards the distorted reception of his comments about the right-wing influencer.
When asked whether he felt his remarks were mischaracterized, Kimmel said, “I didn’t feel like it. It was. It was intentionally, and I think maliciously, mischaracterized.” The host “didn’t think there was a big problem” following his monologue, noting, “I just saw it as distortion on the part of some of the right-wing media networks and I aimed to correct it.”
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Fox News ran an article stating that Kimmel had “insinuated Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin was a member of the ‘MAGA gang.’” Fox News contributor Joe Concha asserted that Kimmel was claiming “that the guy with the trans boyfriend took down, gunned down the biggest supporter and advocate of President Trump because he’s MAGA.” Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson claimed that Kimmel was “effectively blaming Charlie Kirk for his own assassination” and “saying that Charlie Kirk deserved it.”
Kimmel’s exact remarks were, “We hit 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 and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” His criticism was rooted in the right’s effort to blame the left, and trans people more specifically, for the shooting before the public knew anything about the potential motive of the shooter.
Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, called Kimmel’s comments “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.” Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who was appointed by Donald Trump, helped spark a revolt by broadcasters that carry ABC programming by threatening their FCC licenses.
“The idea that I would not have, whatever it was, 40 affiliates, I was like, ‘Well, that’s it,’” Kimmel said at the Bloomberg conference. “There seemed to be a list of demands presented to me that I was not going to go along with any of them. And I was like, well, I guess we’re done. I said to my wife, ‘That’s it. It’s over.’” Even when Jimmy Kimmel Live returned to air, some affiliate networks continued to preempt the show for a few days.
Kimmel’s first episode back brought in 6.2 million views, four times his usual audience, according to data from Nielsen. Meanwhile, his comeback monologue reached 22 million views on YouTube, making it his most-watched monologue of all time on the platform.
“I’ve always been interested in politics, but I was never particularly political person. I also think maybe, maybe you did, but maybe you didn’t have to be back then,” Kimmel said about how politics became more central to his work. “I think this is a very different situation that we’re in now. And also, my job, as I see it, is to talk about the news of the day. And these are the big stories of the day.”
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