ABC takes Jimmy Kimmel off air over Charlie Kirk comments
TV host Jimmy Kimmel has been pulled off air indefinitely after comments he made about the shooting of Charlie Kirk, ABC has said.
The decision came hours after Brendan Carr, chair of broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened to act against ABC and its parent company Disney over the remarks.
In his monologue on Monday, Kimmel said the “Maga gang” was “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and of trying to “score political points from it”.
Mr Carr said Kimmel was “appearing to directly mislead the American public”. Kimmel has not yet commented.
Kimmel, who is among the top chat show personalities in the US, has fronted his show Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003 and hosted the Oscars four times.
During Monday night’s show, he spoke about flags being flown at half mast in honour of Kirk and mocked US President Donald Trump’s reaction to the shooting.
“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” he said.
That prompted a furious response from Mr Carr, who accused Kimmel of “the sickest conduct possible” and demanded an apology.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr, a Trump appointee, told the Benny Show, a conservative podcast.
“These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Hours later, Nexstar Media, one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the US, said it would not air Kimmel’s show “for the foreseeable future”.
Nexstar called his remarks about Kirk “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”.
Mr Carr thanked Nexstar “for doing the right thing” and said he hoped other broadcasters would follow its lead. Nexstar is currently seeking FCC approval for its planned $6.2bn (£4.5bn) merger with Tegna.
Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the US, said it would air a special remembrance programme dedicated to Kirk during the original time slot for Kimmel’s show on Friday.
Kirk, a high-profile conservative activist, died of a single gunshot wound while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem on 10 September. Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder on Tuesday, with prosecutors saying they will seek the death penalty.
On the day Kirk was shot, Kimmel took to Instagram to condemn the attack and send “love” to the 31-year-old’s family.
Speaking during a state visit to the UK, Trump said Kimmel was “fired because he had bad ratings” and “is not a talented person”.
Some prominent Hollywood figures spoke out against Kimmel’s suspension, with actor Ben Stiller commenting: “This isn’t right.”
Hacks star Jean Smart wrote on Instagram that she was “horrified at the cancellation”, adding: “What Jimmy said was free speech, not hate speech.”
Others argued Kimmel’s suspension was not an example of cancel culture.
“When a person says something that a ton of people find offensive, rude, dumb in real time and then that person is punished for it that’s not cancel culture. That is consequences for your actions,” Dave Portnoy, who founded media company Barstool Sports, said.
Meanwhile, House Democrat leaders accused Mr Carr of engaging “in the corrupt abuse of power” and called for him to resign.
“He has disgraced the office he holds by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee to the Trump administration,” a statement read.
Kimmel made no comment as he left the show’s studio on Hollywood Boulevard on Wednesday.
His fans, who had been queuing up to join the live audience, expressed disappointment about the suspension.
“This is getting ridiculous and stupid,” Janna Blackwell told the BBC.
“Freedom of speech. He shared his opinion and is being cancelled.”
One of Carr’s leadership colleagues, FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, criticised the regulator’s approach to Kimmel.
She said that “an inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship or control”.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA), Hollywood’s labour union, said the decision was a violation of constitutional free speech rights.
“Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth,” it said.
A source told CNBC that Kimmel had not been fired and network bosses had intended to speak to him about what he should say when back on air.
Kimmel’s suspension marks the latest chapter in the Trump administration’s feud with media companies.
Trump has previously reached settlements with CBS and ABC over separate stories, and launched legal action against the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
In July, CBS announced it would end the Late Show With Stephen Colbert next year after 11 seasons. The company said the move was “purely a financial decision”, a claim challenged by Colbert.
BBC News used AI to help write the summary at the top of this article. It was edited by BBC journalists. Find out more.
