ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel show off air ‘indefinitely’ over Charlie Kirk comments

ABC on Wednesday pulled the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air “indefinitely” over its host’s controversial comments linking the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to President Donald Trump‘s MAGA movement.

Trump praised the move, which came hours after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr suggested that ABC’s broadcast licence was at risk because of Kimmel’s remarks. ABC is a subsidiary of Disney.

Just before ABC’s announcement, Nexstar Media Group said that its stations that are affiliated with ABC would pre-empt Kimmel’s show “for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight’s show” because of the host’s statements.

Nexstar is seeking FCC approval for its planned $6.2 billion merger with Tegna.

About 10% percent of the approximately 225 ABC affiliate stations are owned by Nexstar. Tegna owns about 5% of ABC’s affiliate stations.

An ABC spokesman on Wednesday night said, “‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ will be pre-empted indefinitely.”

A person familiar with Kimmel’s situation told CNBC that the popular late-night show host has not been fired.

Disney brass plans to speak with Kimmel about what he should say when he goes back on the air, according to the person familiar with the situation.

In his opening monologue Monday night, Kimmel suggested that Tyler Robinson — who is charged with fatally shooting Kirk on Sept. 10 while the activist spoke at Utah Valley University — was aligned with Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

“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,” Kimmel said.

“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving,” he added.

Carr, whom Trump had nominated as FCC chair, told right-wing commentator Benny Johnson earlier Wednesday that Kimmel’s comments were “truly sick,” and said there was a “strong case” for action against ABC and Disney.

“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr told Johnson. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

“They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr said.

The FCC in March told Disney and ABC that it was launching an investigation of the companies’ efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, known as DEI.

Kimmel is the latest media figure to feel backlash for public comments about Kirk’s assassination.

MSNBC fired political analyst Matthew Dowd last week for his on-air comments about the killing, saying that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”

Washington Post opinion columnist Karen Attiah said the newspaper fired her last week after she said there were “racial double standards” in social media reactions to Kirk’s slaying.

Trump on Wednesday night suggested that NBC follow ABC’s example with Kimmel, and cancel its own evening shows, “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” and “Late Night with Seth Myers.”

“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,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even [Stephen] 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!!!” Trump wrote.

The White House’s rapid-response account on X said that ABC was “doing their viewers a favor.”

“Jimmy is a sick freak!” the account tweeted.

Anna Gomez, an FCC commissioner nominated by President Joe Biden, after Carr’s comments to Johnson tweeted: “An inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship and control.”

“This Administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression,” Gomez wrote.

After ABC pulled Kimmel’s show, Gomez wrote on X, “Free expression is non-negotiable. It marks the line between freedom and oppression. We must defend it without compromise.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned ABC’s move.

“America is meant to be a bastion of free speech,” Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a tweet.

“Everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what’s happening to Jimmy Kimmel. This is about protecting democracy,” the senator wrote.

The unions that represent writers and musicians who work on Kimmel’s show criticized ABC and the FCC.

“This is not complicated: Trump’s FCC identified speech it did not like and threatened ABC with extreme reprisals,” said Tino Gagliardi, president of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada, in a statement.

“This is state censorship. It’s now happening in the United States of America, not some far-off country. It’s happening right here and right now,” Gagliardi said.

The Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East, in a statement, said, “The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other – to disturb, even – is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people.”

“It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice,” the guilds said. 

Nexstar, in its statement saying it would not carry “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely, said that the company “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”

Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said, “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.”

“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 said.

Carr, the FCC chief, in a post on X wrote, “I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing. Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest.”

“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. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nexstar’s lead,” Carr wrote.

In June, ABC News cut ties with star national correspondent Terry Moran after he called Trump and senior White House advisor Stephen Miller “world-class” haters in a social media post.

Last December, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump’s future presidential library to settle a lawsuit by the president against the network and anchor George Stephanopoulos over Stephanopoulos’ inaccurate claim in March 2024 that a federal jury had found the president civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.

In fact, that Manhattan jury in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in a department store in the mid-1990s.

Trump denies Carroll’s claims that he attacked her.

— CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this story.