On Wednesday, ABC decided to pull Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show after he made some contentious remarks regarding the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The 57-year-old host was criticized for suggesting that the “MAGA gang” was trying to exploit Kirk’s assassination for political gain.
What Kimmel said
During his monologue, Kimmel stated, “We hit a new low over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them and do everything possible to score political points from there.”
As he spoke, footage aired of President Trump being questioned about Kirk’s assassination outside the White House. The president remarked, “I think it’s very good,” before shifting the focus to renovations at the White House’s ballroom.
Kimmel quipped, “He is in the fourth stage of sadness: Construction.”
“This is not how adults grieve for a murdered friend. It’s more like how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” he added.
Kimmel remarked that it was not the first time Trump had redirected questions about Kirk to discuss renovations instead.
The show then cut back to a clip of Trump on “Fox & Friends,” discussing how he was looking into renovations when he received the news of Kirk’s death before going back to Kimmel’s commentary.
Kimmel humorously concluded, “Then we set up the most beautiful chandelier,” while chuckling about the president’s response.
“Late Night” blowback
Kimmel’s remarks sparked significant backlash following the shooting of the conservative activist at Utah Valley University on September 10th.
As a result of the uproar, ABC announced that Kimmel’s show would be pulled from airing indefinitely.
An ABC spokesperson confirmed, “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be ahead of the line indefinitely.”
Nexstar Media Group, a major broadcaster that serves as ABC’s primary affiliate, stated that Kimmel’s program would see “first-takes” following his comments.
Nexstar revealed that its affiliated television stations would replace “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” with other programming in the ABC-related market.
Since its beginning in 2004, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has been a staple on ABC.
