ABC said on Wednesday that it was taking Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air indefinitely following criticism of on-air comments Kimmel made in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said in a brief statement to media outlets on Wednesday night.
Earlier Wednesday, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr characterized Kimmel’s remarks as “truly sick” in an interview with right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson on Wednesday and said the Disney-owned network should hold Kimmel accountable or face punishment.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,” Carr said. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Appearing on CNBC Thursday, Carr said that Kimmel appeared to “mislead” the American public “about a significant fact” in the case.
What did Kimmel say, exactly?
During his monologue on Monday, Kimmel suggested that President Trump’s supporters were trying to “score political points” by portraying Kirk’s accused killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, as a left-wing radical.
This is what Kimmel said:
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. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.
Kimmel then showed a clip of a reporter asking Trump how he was holding up in the wake of Kirk’s death.
“I think very good,” Trump replied. “And by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they’ve been trying to get, as you know, for about 150 years, and it’s gonna be a beauty.”
“Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” Kimmel said. “Demolition, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
What was Trump’s response to Kimmel’s suspension?
In a post on Truth Social on Wednesday night, Trump called it “Great News for America.”
After erroneously stating that the show had been “CANCELLED,” the president congratulated ABC “for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
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