Jimmy Kimmel taken off air over Charlie Kirk comments
ABC has pulled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off air indefinitely over comments he made about the shooting of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.
"Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely," a spokesperson for the Disney-owned network said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Kimmel said during his show that the "Maga gang" was trying to score political points off Kirk's killing.
Kimmel did not comment to the BBC as he emerged shortly after the announcement from the television studio in Los Angeles.
Kimmel said in his Monday night monologue: "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."
The late-night host also criticised flags being flown at half mast in honour of Kirk, and mocked US President Donald Trump's reaction to the shooting.
"This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish," said Kimmel, who has often poked fun at Trump.
On the day Kirk was shot, Kimmel took to Instagram to condemn the attack and send "love" to the 31-year-old activist's family.
A suspect, 22, has since appeared in court charged with aggravated murder.
Shortly after ABC announced Kimmel had been suspended, President Donald Trump said it was "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," the president wrote in a social media post.
After he was taken off air, Kimmel left the show's studio on Hollywood Boulevard wearing a flannel shirt and cap and rode away in a car without comment.
Fans of the show, who had been queuing up to join the live audience, expressed disappointment about the cancellation.
Janna Blackwell, who was on holiday from Virginia, told the BBC: "You know, this is getting ridiculous and stupid.
"Freedom of speech. He shared his opinion and is being cancelled. To me that is bizarre."
A small protest was also held outside the studio with a sign saying "Trump must go now".
The ABC announcement came just after one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the US, Nexstar Media, said it would not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! "for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight's show".
Nexstar said the comedian's remarks about Kirk were "offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse".
"[We] do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located," said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division.
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, thanked Nexstar "for doing the right thing" and said he hoped other broadcasters would follow its lead. Nexstar is currently seeking FCC approval for its planned $6.2bn merger with Tegna.
Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the US, followed suit. It said it would air a special remembrance programme dedicated to Kirk this Friday during the original time slot for Kimmel's show.
FCC head Carr, a Trump appointee, had earlier criticised Kimmel's monologue.
The head of the US communications regulator said on Wednesday that the ABC host had shown "the sickest conduct possible" and he urged Disney to take action.
"[Broadcasters] have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest," the Trump appointee told the Benny Show, a conservative podcast.
He noted that an apology from Kimmel would be a "very reasonable, minimal step".
But Anna Gomez, the only Democratic member of the FCC, criticised Carr's remarks.
She posted on X that "an inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship or control".
The Writers Guild of America (WGA), Hollywood's labour union, condemned the decision to take Kimmel off air as a violation of constitutional free speech rights.
"Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth," it said in a statement.
Sag-Aftra, another union, said the move was "the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone's freedoms".
A person familiar with Kimmel's situation told CNBC that the host had not been fired, adding that bosses at the network intended to speak to the comedian about what he should say when he goes back on air.
Kimmel is the latest late-night host to see his programme run into issues as more viewers turn to streaming over traditional network viewing.
In July, rival network CBS announced it would end The Late Show With Stephen Colbert next year after 11 seasons.
Network executives said the move was "not related in any way to the show's performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount".
However, Colbert tore into the network and its parent company over the decision.
He accused CBS of leaking financial figures to the press, and alluded to a $16m (£13.5m) settlement with Trump after he sued the network over an interview its 60 Minutes programme did last year with former Vice-President Kamala Harris.
That payout came several months after the Disney-owned ABC agreed to pay $15m (£12m) to Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit after its star anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely and repeatedly said during an interview that the president had been found "liable for rape".
A jury in a civil case had determined Trump was liable for "sexual abuse", which has a specific definition under New York law.
BBC
Trump says TV networks opposed to him should 'maybe' lose licence
US President Donald Trump has suggested some TV networks should have their licences "taken away", as he backed America's broadcast watchdog in a row over the suspension of late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel.
ABC has pulled the comedian off air "indefinitely" after his remarks about the murder of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk in Utah last week.
Kimmel appeared to suggest the suspect was a Trump supporter. Officials, however, have said he was "indoctrinated with leftist ideology".
ABC axed the show after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) headed by a Trump appointee, threatened regulatory action - raising concerns the Trump administration is curtailing the free speech of its critics.
Trump spoke about the issue to reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday while returning from a state visit to the UK.
"I have read some place that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily [in last year's election]," the president said.
"They give me only bad publicity [and] press. I mean, they're getting a licence. I would think maybe their licence should be taken away."
In his monologue on Monday, Kimmel, 57, had said the "Maga gang" was "desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them" and trying to "score political points from it".
He also likened Trump's reaction to the death of his 31-year-old political confidant to "how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish".
Kimmel has condemned the attack and sent "love" to the Kirk family in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
The FCC's chair, Brendan Carr accused Kimmel of "the sickest conduct possible" and said firms like the Disney-owned ABC could "find ways to change conduct and take action... or there's going to be additional work for the FCC".
FCC chair Carr told Fox on Thursday: "We're going to continue to hold these broadcasters accountable to the public interest - and if broadcasters don't like that simple solution, they can turn their licence in to the FCC."
The FCC has regulatory power over major networks, such as ABC, as well as the local stations that carry their content. Owners of local stations can also influence major networks by refusing to carry shows.
Kimmel's suspension was announced shortly after Nexstar Media, one of America's largest TV station owners, said it would not air his show "for the foreseeable future" as his remarks had been "offensive and insensitive".
Carr praised Nexstar - which is currently seeking FCC approval for a $6.2bn (£4.5bn) merger with another media company, Tegna - and said he hoped other broadcasters would follow its lead.
Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the US, said it would air a special remembrance programme dedicated to Kirk during the Jimmy Kimmel Live! time slot on Friday.
Kirk died of a single gunshot wound to the neck while speaking at Utah Valley University on 10 September.
A 22-year-old man was charged with aggravated murder on Tuesday. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty.
Legal scholars say the US Constitution's first amendment, which protects free speech, would prevent the FCC from revoking licences over political disagreements.
But Joe Strazullo, a former Jimmy Kimmel Live! writer, told the BBC there was an atmosphere of fear in the writers' room.
"It's heartbreaking to see the threat of them being out of work," he said. "Nobody knows exactly what's going on still and they're working things out behind the scenes."
Writers, actors and prominent Democrats have condemned Kimmel's suspension.
Former US President Barrack Obama said the Trump administration had taken cancel culture to a "new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn't like".
Late-night show hosts have rallied around Kimmel.
In a rare mid-week episode of The Daily Show, comedian Jon Stewart poked fun at the curtailing of free speech under the current administration.
Stewart described himself as a "patriotically obedient host" and his programme as "administration-compliant". He then referred to Trump as "dear leader" who has been "gracing England with his legendary warmth and radiance".
In a later segment of his show, Stewart interviewed Maria Ressa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her fight for free speech and democracy in the Philippines under former President Rodrigo Duterte.
What's happening in the US is "identical to what happened in the Philippines," Ressa said. "It's both deja vu and PTSD."
She added: "Americans are like deer in headlights. If you don't move and protect the rights you have, you lose them, and it's so much harder to reclaim them," she said.
Actor Ben Stiller said what happened to Kimmel "isn't right", while Hacks star Jean Smart said she was "horrified at the cancellation".
"This is blatant censorship," Stephen Colbert said on his rival show on CBS. "With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch."
CBS announced in July that it would not renew Colbert's show for another season, saying this was due to financial pressures.
The Writers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild, two Hollywood trade unions, condemned the suspension of Kimmel as a violation of constitutional free speech rights.
But others have maintained the FCC and ABC acted appropriately.
"When a person says something that a ton of people find offensive, rude, dumb in real time and then that person is punished for it, that's not cancel culture," said Dave Portnoy, who founded media company Barstool Sports.
"That is consequences for your actions."
Late-night Fox host Greg Gutfeld argued that Kimmel had "deliberately and misleadingly" blamed Kirk's "allies and friends" for his death.
British presenter Piers Morgan said Kimmel had caused "understandable outrage all over America", adding: "Why is he being heralded as some kind of free speech martyr?"
But one of Carr's FCC leadership colleagues, commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrate, criticised the regulator's stance.
She said that "an inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship or control".
BBC
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