ABC halts 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' indefinitely over Charlie Kirk comments
What's the story
ABC has announced that it will indefinitely stop airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! following host Jimmy Kimmel's comments on the recent assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The decision comes hours after Kimmel faced backlash from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr for his remarks about Kirk's assassination. Carr had warned ABC, Disney, and Kimmel over his monologue about Kirk during a YouTube episode of commentator Benny Johnson's show on September 17, Wednesday (US time).
Industry reactions
Nexstar and Sinclair's response to Kimmel's comments
Nexstar Media Group Inc. has also announced that it will stop airing Kimmel's show on its 32 ABC affiliates. Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division, called Kimmel's comments "offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse." Meanwhile, Sinclair Broadcast Group plans to replace Kimmel's timeslot with a Kirk remembrance special on September 19 (Friday). The special will be broadcast at all Sinclair stations and offered to ABC affiliates nationwide.
Alford's statement
'Sinclair intends not to return...'
Alford further said, "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..." Meanwhile, Sinclair added, "Sinclair intends not to return 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform."
Twitter Post
Sinclair Group wants Kimmel to apologize
Sinclair Broadcast Group says Jimmy Kimmel’s show won’t return until “appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a broadcast platform”
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) September 18, 2025
They also want Jimmy Kimmel to issue a public apology & make a donation to Charlie Kirk’s family & Turning Point USA. pic.twitter.com/MmIFUT6oTT
Political response
Trump reacts to Kimmel's show being pulled off-air
US President Donald Trump has praised ABC for suspending Kimmel's show. He wrote on Truth Social, "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." He added, "Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even [Stephen] Colbert if that's possible."
Show history
Kimmel's comments that sparked controversy
On Monday (US time), Kimmel criticized Trump for blaming Democrats for Kirk's fatal shooting. He said, "We hit some new lows with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Kirk as anything other than one of them." "The White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism..." Then, mocking Trump, he added, "This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend; this is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish."
Statement
'You think President would attempt to bring us together...': Kimmel
He added, "Is it possible that he's doing it intentionally so he can be bad about that instead of the Epstein list?" Previously, on September 11, Kimmel said, "With all these terrible things happening, you would think that our president would at least make an attempt to bring us together, but he didn't." Meanwhile, authorities charged Tyler Robinson (22), the suspect in Kirk's assassination, with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, and witness tampering.
Twitter Post
Here's what Kimmel said
NEW: Disney’s ABC has permanently suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live following the late-night host’s recent comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination
— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) September 17, 2025
“We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as… pic.twitter.com/Q0002bBSjy