Jimmy Kimmel: Late-night host spotted for first time since show’s indefinite cancellation
Jimmy Kimmel has been spotted for the first time since his show was pulled off air “indefinitely” after his controversial comments about Charlie Kirk’s death and US President Donald Trump during an opening monologue.
The late night talk show host was captured driving into a Los Angeles office building on Thursday (local time), which is reportedly stacked with law firms.
He was wearing black sunglasses and a navy button-up shirt as he drove into the building’s car park in his black Audi S8 with the window’s down.
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The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host looked tense as he arrived, but later smirked at the cameras as he stepped out of his car.
The exact reason for his visit to the building remains unknown.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying 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,” Kimmel said on Monday night’s show.
“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
The comedian then showed clips of Mr Trump being asked about how he is holding up after Kirk’s death.
“I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House,” Mr Trump replied, adding the new ballroom at the White House will “be a beauty.”
As the camera cuts back to Kimmel, he said: “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction.”
ABC, which is owned by Disney, pulled Kimmel’s show on Wednesday evening.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesman told NBC News on Wednesday.
The decision by Disney followed the threat of action from the regulator.
On a right-wing podcast, the Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr characterised Kimmel’s remarks as a “concerted effort to lie to the American people” and had wielded the stick of his agency’s power.
He added, “Frankly, when you see stuff like this – I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. 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.”
Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owner of ABC affiliate stations in the United States, has since laid out a set of strict conditions Kimmel must abide by in order to return to television screens.
Firstly, the broadcaster is calling for “formal discussions” with ABC to address the network’s “commitment to professionalism and accountability”.
It also requires Kimmel to “issue a direct apology to the Kirk family” and make a “meaningful personal donation to the Kirk family and Turning Point USA,” the organisation founded by Kirk that advocates for conservative politics.
Sinclair also asserted that regardless of the ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will not return to its affiliate stations until the company is “confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.”
It comes as Sinclair’s vice chairman Jason Smith said Kimmel’s remarks were “inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country.”
