Jimmy Kimmel: ABC takes late-night star off the air over remarks on Charlie Kirk’s killing

Disney-owned ABC will take its late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air following conservative backlash to comments Kimmel made on air in the wake of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk’s death.

A network spokesperson did not comment beyond saying that the show will be preempted “indefinitely.” The biggest owner of ABC-affiliated stations, Nexstar, said earlier Wednesday, US time, that Kimmel’s program would be replaced starting Wednesday night, linking the move to statements the late-night show host made about last week’s killing of 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,” Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, wrote in a statement.

“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,” Alford added.

On his show Monday, Kimmel, 57, said: “We had 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 with everything they can to score political points from it.”

Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk’s shooting, does not appear to be ideologically conservative or a supporter of President Donald Trump. According to charging documents from prosecutors released earlier this week, Robinson sent a message to his roommate that he “had enough of (Kirk’s) hatred.”

Kimmel’s contract with ABC was set to expire next year and there was speculation about whether it would be renewed, particularly after the announcement in July that CBS owner Paramount would cancel its top-rated late-night show, “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr criticised Kimmel earlier Wednesday, suggesting the Federal agency could pull broadcast licences owned by parent company Disney. Licenses are given to local stations, not networks, and revocations are extremely rare.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Mr Carr told conservative podcast host Benny Johnson. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Carr said he could “certainly see a path forward for suspension” for Kimmel at the network, something the FCC would have no involvement in. Carr has also previously criticized the ABC show “The View.”

In a post on the social media platform X, Carr celebrated Nexstar’s decision to “do the right thing” and stop airing the show. “Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest,” he wrote. “While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”

The FCC is set to review Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of another local television behemoth, Tegna. That deal, which is expected to close by the second half of 2026, would also require the FCC to relax the national ownership cap that limits how many stations one company can own in the United States. Carr has suggested in the past that he is willing to raise or eliminate the long-standing cap.

The decision by ABC is likely to be seen as a concession to the network’s critics. In December, the company agreed to put $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit.

After the announcement that Colbert’s show would be canceled, Trump speculated on his Truth Social platform that Kimmel was “NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes.”

In early September, Kimmel mocked Trump as “a delicate, chubby little teacup.”

“Did we hurt your feelings?” he asked. “You want us to be canceled because we make jokes about you?”

Trump has also taken aim at Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, who host late-night shows for NBC. Both are under contract through 2028.

In a post on X, Democratic Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois wrote: “A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say. This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.”

Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy at the free speech advocacy organization FIRE, said Wednesday that “the government pressured ABC - and ABC caved.”

“Another media outlet withered under government pressure, ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution on broadcasters and publishers who criticize it,” he added. “We cannot be a country where late night talk show hosts serve at the pleasure of the president. But until institutions grow a backbone and learn to resist government pressure, that is the country we are.”

Kimmel’s show debuted in 2003. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times last year, Kimmel said his current contract with Disney could be his last. “I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good,” he said. “That seems like enough.”