Jimmy Kimmel Live was pulled off the air indefinitely after its host, Jimmy Kimmel, referenced Charlie Kirk in a Monday night monologue. In addition to Jimmy Kimmel Live’s indefinite suspension, the Sinclair broadcast company is demanding that Kimmel donate to Kirk’s family and his Turning Point USA organization.
On Monday (September 15), Kimmel, 57, referred to Kirk’s assassination and focused on President Donald Trump’s reaction to the loss of the popular conservative figure. In the monologue, Kimmel doesn’t make light of Kirk’s death, only Trump’s reaction to it after answering questions from a throng of media on how he might be handling the loss. Trump, as seen in the clip, barely mentions his assumed grief and instead discusses the construction of a ballroom at the White House.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with 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,” Kirk said in the monologue.
Kimmel pointed out that Trump, who visited the set of Fox & Friends to discuss Kirk and other topics, was focused on the ballroom, the lack of ballot boxes in California, and derailing his own stances by contradicting himself during the visit. Again, we should note that Kimmel doesn’t once mock the death of Kirk, only Trump’s muted reaction to it.
That was enough for FCC Chair Brendan Carr to weigh in on the controversy during an appearance on CNBC, stating, “It was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact that probably one of the most significant political events we’ve had in a long time, for the most significant political assassination we’ve seen in a long time.”
NextStar, which owns around 200 television stations, said that it would pull Kimmel from its 33 ABC stations, with the wider network following up with the indefinite suspension of the broadcast.
As of now, Jimmy Kimmel has not commented publicly on being shut down from hosting his program, and many proponents of free speech are concerned about the assumed politicization of Charlie Kirk’s violent death at the hands of white Utah native Tyler Robinson, who was raised by Republican Party-voting parents, one of whom was a former law enforcement officer who tuned his son in.
On X, reactions to Kimmel’s show going off the air have prompted a flurry of responses. We’ve got those listed below.
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Photo: Getty
