NEW YORK (AP) – Jimmy Kimmel’s TV future lies on balance Thursday after ABC Paused his late night show Follow the host’s comments Charlie Kirk’s murderwhich prompted dozens of stations to say they wouldn’t air the show.
Veteran late-night comic He made several comments on Monday and Tuesday regarding his reaction to the assassination of conservative activists, including that “many of the Maga lands work very hard to exploit the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
ABC, which aired “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”, moved quickly after Nexstar Communications Group said it would pull out the show from Wednesday. Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting station, said Kimmel’s comments on Kirk’s death were “aggressive and insensitive at a critical period in our national political discourse.” Nexstar operates 28 ABC affiliates.
Another company, which owns Sinclair Broadcast Group, a local television station of 38, apologized to Kimmel to Kirk’s family and called on activist political organisation Turning Point USA to make “a meaningful personal donation.” Sinclair says the ABC Station will pay tribute to Kirk on Friday at Kimmel’s time slot.
Appearing on CNBC on Thursday, FCC Chairman Brendanker Two affiliate groups supported the movement and pushed it back to the network. The Federal Communications Commission does not have authority over television networks, but it is authorized to suspend licenses for individual stations in local markets.
“We are reinvigorating the enforcement of the FCC’s public interest,” Kerr said. “I think that’s a good thing.”
There were no immediate comments from Kimmel. Kimmel’s contract ended in May 2026. The ABC statement did not cite reasons for why his show was preempted.
President Donald Trump celebrated the ABC’s move towards true social media sites. “We congratulate ABC for having the courage to do what they ultimately had to do,” he wrote.
On Wednesday, Kerr called Kimmel’s comments “really sick,” saying his agency has a strong case for hosting Kimmel, ABC and network parent Walt Disney. He said the comic appears to be making a deliberate effort to mislead the public that Kirk’s assassin is a right-wing Trump supporter.
During a monologue Monday evening, Kimmel suggested that Tyler Robinson, the man charged with Kirk’s murder, may have been a pro-Trump Republican.
“The Magagang is desperately trying to characterize this child who kills Charlie Kirk as something other than one person and does everything he can to score political points from there,” Kimmel said. “There was sadness between my points.”
Officials say the 22-year-old grew up in a conservative household in southern Utah, but was caught up in “left ideology.” His parents said last year he was politically left to left to left. His voter status is inactive and meaningful He didn’t vote Two regular general elections. He told his trans partner he “targeted Kirk because he had enough of his hatred.
Business landscape around late night television
Both Disney and Nexter are ahead of the FCC business. Disney is seeking regulatory approval ESPN’s NFL Network Acquisitionand Nexstar needs the Trump administration’s blessing to complete $6.2 billion Buying Broadcast Rival Teguna.
For both companies, reviving Kimmel after the suspension risks Trump’s rage, who already claims the show has been cancelled.
Kimmel’s suspension comes two months after CBS announced it was Cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s late-night show Economic reasons for the next May. However, some critics believe his attitude towards Trump may play a role.
Both Colbert and Kimmel have made the president a frequent target for jokes. Shortly after Colbert cancellation, FCC approved CBS parent company Paramount’s long maintenance agreement with SkyDance.
Trump likewise celebrated Colbert’s imminent exit.
“I love Colbert being fired,” Trump said in July. “His talent was less clear than his reputation. I heard Jimmy Kimmel was next.”
Within the past year, both Disney and CBS parents have chosen To resolve the lawsuit Trump wasn’t brought to their news division, it was brought to their news division.
In a post on X, FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the administration for “using government powers to suppress legal expression.”
“Another media that withered under government pressure will ensure that the administration continues to tighten up broadcasters and publishers that criticize it and ensure accurate retaliation,” said Ali Kohn, the leading advisor to the Personal Rights and Expression Foundation’s Technical Policy. “We cannot become a country where late-night talk show hosts serve the president’s joy.”
The scene outside Kimmel’s studio after the show was interrupted
Kimmel left the Hollywood Theater, where his show will be recorded, about three hours after ABC’s decision. He bowed his head as he entered the waiting car.
Audiences were lined up outside the theater when they were told the show had been cancelled on Wednesday.
“Interestingly, as the studio audience was walking around, I was waiting for the plug to this right,” Tommy Williams, an audience member in Jacksonville, Florida, told the Associated Press outside the theater. “They didn’t tell us what happened. They just said the show had been cancelled.”
Details of what Kimmel said on his show
Kimmel said Trump’s response to Kirk’s death was “not a way for adults to grieve the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old child lamented the goldfish.”
He also said FBI chief Kash Patel handled the investigation into the murder.
He returned to the topic on Tuesday night and laughed at the performance of JD Vance’s vice president as guest host for Kirk’s podcast.
He said Trump was “inciting flames” by attacking people on the left. “Which is that? They’re so scary, are they scared to hit a tennis ball, or are they a well-organized deadly commando team? Because they can’t be both.”
This move comes when the president, his administration and political parties strengthen their efforts. Police speech about Kirk’s death. Vance urged Americans earlier this week to attract fellow citizens who laughed at the assassination.
Using that power to lean towards the media is also the latest initiative by the administration. Kerr launched an investigation into the outlet that angered Trump, and the president sued multiple media organizations for negative reporting.
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Associated Press journalists Liam McEwan and Jaimie Ding of Los Angeles contributed to the report of Nicholas Riccardi in Denver.
