<\/p>\n
Comedian Wanda Sykes<\/a> was at home in a full face of makeup Wednesday night because she was headed to have an on-air chat with her friend Jimmy Kimmel when the late-night host\u2019s network, ABC, abruptly pulled his show from the air after complaints from the Trump administration, she said on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cSo let\u2019s see, [Trump] didn\u2019t end the Ukraine war or solve Gaza within his first week, but he did end freedom of speech within his first year,\u201d Sykes said to the camera. \u201cHey, for those of you who pray, now\u2019s the time to do it. Love you, Jimmy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Disney-owned network announced Wednesday that it was taking \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d<\/a> off the air \u201cindefinitely\u201d but did not provide an explanation for the move, which followed conservative backlash to comments Kimmel made in an opening monologue about MAGA reactions to the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk<\/a>. Kimmel\u2019s comments were denounced by Nextstar, the biggest owner of ABC-affiliated stations, which said it would replace Kimmel\u2019s show starting Wednesday night.<\/p>\n The show\u2019s suspension also comes after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel and implied that the FCC could retaliate against the companies who aired him.<\/p>\n The timing of the announcement prompted many fellow comedians and Hollywood figures to accuse ABC of caving to the Trump administration\u2019s pressure to censor any views of Kirk deemed as unacceptable by his supporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t right,\u201d actor and director Ben Stiller wrote on X, posting the news of Kimmel\u2019s suspension.<\/p>\n \u201cI am horrified at the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live,\u201d \u201cHacks\u201d star Jean Smart wrote on Instagram. \u201cWhat Jimmy said was FREE speech, not hate speech. People seem to only want to protect free speech when it suits THEIR agenda. Though I didn\u2019t agree at ALL with Charlie Kirk; his shooting death sickened me; and should have sickened any decent human being. What is happening to our country?\u201d<\/p>\n Comedian Mike Birbiglia posted a photo of a handwritten note on Instagram with the caption \u201cCalling all comedians.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve spent a lot of time in public and private defending comedians I don\u2019t agree with,\u201d Birbiglia wrote<\/a>. \u201cIf you\u2019re a comedian and you don\u2019t call out the insanity of pulling Kimmel off the air \u2014 don\u2019t bother spouting off about free speech anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know it\u2019s really bad when someone did blackface once and I\u2019m over here saying he did not deserve to get fired,\u201d wrote Skyler Higley, a writer for CBS\u2019s recently ended \u201cAfter Midnight with Taylor Tomlinson\u201d \u2014 referring to sketches Kimmel did for \u201cThe Man Show\u201d<\/a> impersonating Black celebrities in the \u201990s and early \u201900s, for which he\u2019s apologized.<\/p>\n \u201cJimmy Kimmel should have stuck to acceptable comments, like suggesting that homeless people be executed,\u201d liberal columnist Andy Borowitz wrote, in an ironic reference to to Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, who apologized after public outcry<\/a> over his comment that mentally ill homeless people should be killed by lethal injection.<\/p>\n Roseanne Barr was in the minority among her Hollywood cohort, appearing to delight in the fallout for ABC, the network that in 2018 canceled the return of her sitcom \u201cRoseanne\u201d following a racist tweet she made about former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett, and for Kimmel, a comedian who\u2019s made fun of her on his show. \u201cToday is better than my birthday,\u201d she wrote in one X post.<\/p>\n Kimmel became the subject of controversy after he said in his opening monologue Monday night that the \u201cMAGA gang\u201d was \u201cdesperately 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.\u201d He was referring to 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the Utah man accused of shooting Kirk.<\/p>\n Robinson grew up in a Republican household but had apparently become sympathetic to LGBTQ+ causes<\/a>. He does not appear to be ideologically conservative or a supporter of President Donald Trump, but authorities say a motive in the Kirk shooting remains unclear. According to charging documents from prosecutors released this week, Robinson sent a message to his roommate<\/a> that he \u201chad enough of [Kirk\u2019s] hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n In a monologue last week<\/a>, Kimmel called Kirk\u2019s killing \u201csenseless\u201d and said he had seen \u201cextraordinarily vile responses to this from both sides of the political spectrum,\u201d including those he said were \u201ccheering\u201d Kirk\u2019s death.<\/p>\n As outrage at Kimmel\u2019s comments on Monday was building on the right, Carr, the Trump-appointed FCC chairman, threatened to target ABC if it did not punish Kimmel. \u201cWe can do this the easy way or the hard way,\u201d Carr told conservative podcast host Benny Johnson. \u201cThese companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there\u2019s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar\u2019s broadcasting division, said in a statement Wednesday that Kimmel\u2019s comments were \u201coffensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.\u201d Nexstar owns ABC stations in more than 30 markets, including Nashville, New Orleans and Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n \u201cContinuing 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,\u201d Alford added.<\/p>\n Kimmel\u2019s contract with ABC was set to expire next year, and there was speculation about whether it would be renewed, particularly after the announcement in July that CBS owner Paramount would cancel its top-rated late-night show<\/a>, \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert.\u201d<\/p>\n