Walt Disney-owned ABC said on Wednesday it will indefinitely stop airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! after remarks the late-night host made in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination came under harsh criticism from the head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The decision comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressured broadcasters to stop airing content he has found objectionable and called on the FCC to pull licenses from stations.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said, without elaborating.
Earlier, Nexstar Media Group, which describes itself as the nation’s largest local television and media company, said it would stop airing the show on its 32 ABC affiliates, citing Kimmel’s comments.
“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division.
Kimmel spoke about reaction to Kirk killing
During a recent monologue, Kimmel said the U.S. had hit hit “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.”
Kimmel also criticized Trump’s mourning of Kirk, pointing to a video of Trump’s comments on the White House lawn.
“In between the finger-pointing, there was, uh, grieving — on Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level you can see how hard the president is taking this,” Kimmel said, before cutting to a clip where Trump responded to reporters asking about how he was doing by pointing to construction going on at the White House.
“This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” he said.
The late-night host did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, FCC chair Brendan Carr had urged local broadcasters to stop airing the show. He suggested the commission could open an investigation as a result and that broadcasters could potentially be fined or lose their licences if there was a pattern of distorted comment.
‘The easy way or the hard way’
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said in a podcast interview with conservative Benny Johnson that aired Wednesday.
“Disney needs to see some change here, but the individual licensed stations that are taking their content, it’s time for them to step up and say this, you know, garbage to the extent that that’s what comes down the pipe in the future isn’t something that we think serves the needs of our local communities.”
Trump has repeatedly sued, berated and threatened media companies whose coverage he disputes with legal or other action.
Carr, a Trump appointee whose agency regulates broadcast television licences essential to networks like ABC, has echoed Trump’s concerns about media bias.
Carr celebrated the July cancellation of CBS’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, a frequent platform for anti-Trump satire.
CBS said in July it was cancelling Colbert’s show for financial reasons, although some critics have suggested his stance on Trump played a role.
“Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel,” Trump said after Colbert’s dismissal.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
