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ABC has suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel indefinitely following controversial comments he made about the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Disney-owned network announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be \u201cpre-empted indefinitely,\u201d sparking a national debate over freedom of speech and political influence on broadcasting.
The suspension came after Kimmel, during his Monday monologue, accused \u201cthe Maga gang\u201d of exploiting Kirk\u2019s murder for political gain. He also mocked President Donald Trump\u2019s public grieving, saying it resembled \u201chow a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.\u201d The remarks drew swift backlash from conservative groups and prompted praise from Trump, who described the suspension as \u201cgreat news for America.\u201d
Kimmel has long been a critic of Trump and right-wing politics, but his latest comments coincided with heightened tensions following Kirk\u2019s killing. A 22-year-old suspect has since been charged with aggravated murder. While Kimmel offered condolences to Kirk\u2019s family on Instagram immediately after the shooting, his on-air comments reignited partisan divides over media responsibility.
The decision to pull Kimmel\u2019s show was backed by major broadcast affiliates. Nexstar Media, one of the largest TV station owners in the US, said it would no longer air the program \u201cfor the foreseeable future,\u201d calling his remarks \u201coffensive and insensitive at a critical time.\u201d Sinclair Broadcast Group also announced it would replace Kimmel\u2019s slot with a remembrance special for Kirk.
Regulators also weighed in. Brendan Carr, a Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), condemned Kimmel\u2019s comments as \u201cthe sickest conduct possible\u201d and urged Disney to act. He argued broadcasters have a duty to operate \u201cin the public interest.\u201d However, Anna Gomez, the only Democratic FCC commissioner, criticized Carr\u2019s position, warning that political violence should not be used as a pretext for censorship.
The suspension has triggered backlash in Hollywood. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Sag-Aftra both condemned ABC\u2019s move, calling it an attack on constitutional free speech rights. \u201cShame on those in government who forget this founding truth,\u201d the WGA said, while Sag-Aftra warned of \u201csuppression and retaliation that endangers everyone\u2019s freedoms.\u201d
Meanwhile, fans gathered outside Kimmel\u2019s Los Angeles studio expressed disappointment at the show\u2019s abrupt cancellation. Some described the move as \u201cbizarre\u201d and an example of \u201ccancel culture,\u201d arguing that Kimmel was punished for sharing his opinion. A small protest also formed, with signs calling for Trump\u2019s removal.
Though ABC has not fired Kimmel, insiders say executives plan to meet with him before any return to air. The suspension comes at a turbulent moment for late-night television, as traditional viewership declines and political tensions increasingly spill into entertainment. For now, Kimmel remains off air, at the center of a controversy over free expression, media accountability, and the boundaries of political satire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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ABC has suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel indefinitely following controversial comments he made about the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Disney-owned network announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be \u201cpre-empted indefinitely,\u201d sparking a national debate over freedom of speech and political influence on broadcasting. The suspension came after Kimmel, during his Monday monologue, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":18958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-international"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Jimmy_Kimmel_June_2022.jpg?fit=563%2C751&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18963"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18964,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18963\/revisions\/18964"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}