September 18, 2025
Jimmy Kimmel has been silenced after his late night show remarks on Charlie Kirk’s death.
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show has been pulled indefinitely over his remarks on Charlie Kirk’s death, and he’s also been ordered to issue an apology and donate to Kirk’s Turning Point USA.
Social media erupted on Sept. 17 after ABC, under pressure from major station groups Nexstar and Sinclair, announced it was suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! “for the foreseeable future.”
In addition to pulling the show, the media giants called for Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family and for ABC to make a “meaningful donation” to both the family and Turning Point USA, Deadline reported.
”Nexstar’s 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,” Nexstar said in a statement. “Nexstar 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.”
Sinclair Broadcast Group, ABC’s largest affiliate owner, agreed with Nexstar and expressed the organization’s objection to Kimmel’s remarks in the wake of Kirk’s assassination. As a result, it will “not lift the suspension of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.”
The company announced that on Sept. 19, instead of Kimmel’s show, a tribute to Kirk will air in the time slot. Kimmel’s swift removal came just days after his Sept. 15 show, where he commented on Kirk’s killer being a MAGA supporter.
“We had 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 with everything they can to score political points from it.”
Just so we’re clear, this is the clip that got Jimmy Kimmel’s show shelved by ABC.
If I’m missing any other clips please let me know.
This is also what Jimmy Kimmel said the day that Charlie Kirk was assassinated:
“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one… pic.twitter.com/ORSDwSYEut
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 18, 2025
A clip shared on X shows Kimmel’s late-night show remarks, including his initial reaction to Kirk’s Sept. 10 killing, which he called “horrible and monstrous.” He expressed love for the Kirk family and condemned the “senseless gun violence.”
Public outcry quickly spread across social media, with many denouncing Kimmel’s suspension, which came on the heels of Stephen Colbert’s show being pulled for his criticism of the president, as an attack on free speech and freedom of the press.
”This cannot be the clip. If this is the clip, then free speech is truly gone in America, the First Amendment is non-existent,” one user wrote.
”Just so we’re clear, what got Jimmy Kimmel fired is Donald Trump and Brendan Carr,” added someone else.
Kimmel’s abrupt removal comes as both Nexstar and Sinclair lobby the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Chairman Brendan Carr, on key regulatory matters. Nexstar, the nation’s largest station group, had a proposed merger with Tegna before the Trump administration that would create a media giant with 265 stations across 44 states and Washington, D.C., reaching 80% of U.S. TV households. Disney, ABC’s parent company, also requires administration approval for ESPN’s deal to acquire the NFL Network, which includes the league taking a 10% stake in ESPN. Meanwhile, Sinclair is pushing for deregulation and publicly praised Carr in its statement.
”We appreciate FCC Chairman Carr’s remarks today, and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks,” Sinclair said.
However, tensions are high, the public is outraged, and calls are mounting for a full boycott against Disney, ABC’s parent company
”Boycott Disney. Boycott Nexstar. Boycott their advertisers. Hit them where it hurts: the $$$,” one X user wrote.
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