ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel’s Late Night Show ‘Indefinitely’ After Charlie Kirk Comments

ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show indefinitely after criticism erupted over comments the host made after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesman said Wednesday evening, according to CNN.

The network’s decision to preempt Kimmel’s show came alongside an announcement from a major ABC affiliate, Nexstar, stating that it would pull Kimmel’s show from its lineup over the host’s comments regarding Kirk.

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive 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,” said Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division.

“Continuing 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,” he added.

Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr suggested earlier Wednesday that his agency might pursue action against ABC affiliates who air Kimmel’s comments for not acting in the public interest.

“When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,” Carr said to host Benny Johnson during an appearance on The Benny Show.

During his latest show, Kimmel claimed that the gunman who murdered Kirk last week was a member of the “MAGA gang” and mocked President Donald Trump for his response to the Kirk’s death.

“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,” said Kimmel.

Carr said that Kimmel’s comments are part of a larger push among some in media to construct a false narrative around the 22-year-old who killed Kirk.

“In some quarters, there’s a very concerted effort to lie to the American people about the nature, as you indicated, of one of the most significant, newsworthy, public-interest acts that we’ve seen in a long time,” said Carr.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who has received updates from investigators probing the assassination, has said that the suspected shooter was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.” The suspect, a male, was living with his romantic partner at the time, a transgender-identifying male.

Trump predicted in July — after fellow late night host Stephen Colbert’s show was canceled — that Kimmel’s show was also soon to be canceled.

“The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, Fallon will be gone,” Trump said in a Truth Social post at the time.

Trump responded to the news that Kimmel had been suspended with another post to Truth Social saying, “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”