ABC Pulls ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ After Charlie Kirk Comments

Disney’s ABC said it would take Jimmy Kimmel‘s popular late-night show off its schedule “indefinitely” after one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the U.S., Nexstar Media, said it intended to pre-empt airings of the program following remarks the host made about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Nexstar said Wednesday that its “owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show.” The company said it  “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.”

In his monologue Monday night , Kimmel said that the “MAGA gang” was trying to score political points off Kirk’s murder. Kirk, a prominent conservative activist, was shot and killed Sept. 10 at a debate at Utah Valley University. Three days later, authorities announced they had arrested the suspected shooter.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” Kimmel said. He also poked fun at President Trump’s response to a question from the press about how he was mourning Kirk’s death after Trump pivoted to a discussion of the construction of a new White House ballroom.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatened earlier on Thursday to take action against ABC. After Disney’s decision was revealed, he said he wanted “to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing” in a statement on social media. “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.”

Disney’s maneuver is likely to further inflame American partisanship over the assassination of Kirk. The activist is viewed as a hero by many, and several prominent conservatives have called for any critic of his work to be silenced, no matter how nuanced the argument may be. Some liberals have taken issue with sone of Kirk’s stances, and have insisted on commenting despite the current environment.

Representatives for Kimmel could not be reached for immediate comment.

Disney’s decision to take Kimmel off the air also puts a spotlight on how frightened traditional media companies have become in an era when the White House and the Federal Communications Commission pounce on individual reports with comments and legal pushback. President Trump has in recent months sued both ABC News and CBS News for comments made by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos and the editing of an interview with former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on “60 Minutes.” In both cases, the companies agreed to pay multi-million dollar settlements, even though the legal cases were deemed to be quite flimsy by experts.

More to come..