Key Points:
The Disney-owned network pulled the Jimmy Kimmel Live! after Kimmel made “insensitive and offensive” remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Kimmel criticized Republicans in his monologue and joked about Trump, prompting backlash.
Trump praised ABC’s decision, calling Kimmel “ZERO talent” and comparing his ratings to Colbert’s.
Jimmy Kimmel’s long-running late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was pulled indefinitely by the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network on 17 September 2025.
The network suspended the talk show after Kimmel made “insensitive and offensive” comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. ABC acted after Nexstar Media Group Inc. announced in a statement that they would “pre-empt the show for the foreseeable future.”
The late-night show, which has aired since 2003, was suspended following Kimmel’s remarks about Charlie Kirk’s shooter during his monologue in the episode released on 15 September 2025. He condemned Republicans for trying to use Kirk’s death as a political move, describing it as a “new low.”
He claimed that the Make America Great Again (MAGA) gang has been desperately attempting to “characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kirk was assassinated on 10 September 2025 during an event at Utah University campus. Authorities confirmed that the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, shot Kirk in the neck with a rifle from a rooftop.
Kimmel also cracked a joke about Trump mourning, comparing him to a four-year-old kid grieving his goldfish. He said, “This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Reacting to the news of cancellation, US President Donald Trump congratulated ABC network for cancelling the show in a post on Truth Social. He also referenced Stephen Colbert, whose talk show was cancelled for financial reasons.
He wrote in his post, “Kimmel has ZERO talent and worse ratings than Colbert if that's possible. That leaves Jimmy (Fallon) and Seth, two total losers.”
Andrew Alford, who is the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting section, released a statement: “Kimmel's comments about the death of Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse. We do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
He added that providing Kimmel a broadcasting platform at the moment is not in “public interest.” Alford further stated, “We have made the difficult decision to pre-empt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
Amid all the cancellation news, an old X post of Charlie Kirk resurfaced where he wrote, “Jimmy Kimmel isn’t funny.” The post, dated October 2017, does not explain why Kirk wrote it or the context behind it. The announcement of the recent pre-emption of the late-night show has flooded the comment section of Kirk’s old post. One user wrote, “you won.” Another added, “Total victory.” [Rh/VS]
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