Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been pulled off the air by ABC indefinitely following comments made by Kimmel about the death of Charlie Kirk.
The network’s decision followed a series of dramatic developments on Wednesday, including a stern warning from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr directed at ABC, and a subsequent announcement from Nexstar, one of the nation’s largest owners of local TV stations, that it would preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The uproar stems from comments Kimmel made during his monologues earlier in the week. “We had 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 with everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during Monday’s monologue.
He followed that up on Tuesday by criticizing JD Vance and “many in Maga-land [who] are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.” After dismissing Vance’s claim that “most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left,” Kimmel countered by asking, “Who wanted to hang the guy who was vice president before you? Was that the liberal left? Or the toothless army who stormed the Capitol on January 6?”
During a podcast appearance on Wednesday, Carr called on Kimmel to apologize and threatened the FCC licenses of ABC affiliates. “What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters … have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr said. “When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Nexstar, which is also amid a multi-billion merger that requires FCC approval, promptly announced that it would preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! “for the foreseeable future.” “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, said 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.”
ABC itself soon followed suit, announcing that Kimmel’s show would be suspended indefinitely.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kimmel had planned to address the controversy on tonight’s episode, but has no plans to apologize.
With the Late Show with Stephen Colbert set to end in May 2026, only NBC’s late-night shows remain unaffected by the current political climate at this time. What happens next remains to be seen, but Kimmel’s current contract at ABC expires in 2026, and he told People magazine in February 2024 that it could be his last. He also recently obtained Italian citizenship.
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