On Wednesday, September 17th, late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel had his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, suspended by ABC. They decided that Kimmel’s comments about the shooting of Charlie Kirk pushed it over the edge. Kimmel has had his show on the air since 2003, and his contract is set to end in May 2026, but his show immediately came off the air. Kimmel has made no public comment on the suspension of his show, but it seems pretty obvious what his response would be.
On Monday, September 15th, Kimmel made a speech on his show, where he stated that the “Maga gang” was only trying to “score political points” by humanizing the shooting of Kirk. He also commented on the flags being half-mast in honor of Kirk, claiming that “This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.” These statements are what Brendan Carr, the broadcast regulator for the Federal Communications Commission, said had led to the show being suspended. Supporters of this decision are saying that Kimmel was trying to sway public opinion about the death of Kirk.
Disney is the parent company of ABC, so they are receiving backlash. People have known Disney for accepting everyone and anyone, but they have done nothing to prevent Kimmel from being suspended. As a result, Disney has lost about $4 billion from people cancelling their Disney+ subscriptions as a form of protest. Even actors, including Noah Centineo, Pedro Pascal, and Tatiana Maslany, have cancelled their subscriptions. Despite all of the people in favor of publicly cancelling Kimmel, there are also many people on his side.
In response to the suspension of the program, President Trump has stated that this is “good news for America.” He has claimed that Kimmel, along with other talk show hosts, is not talented and is trying to change public opinion through his show. However, supporters of Kimmel have said that Trump is taking away basic constitutional rights, like freedom of speech.
This is now the second talk show host’s program that has been suspended, along with Stephen Colbert’s back in July. Trump has even stated that Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, John Oliver, and Jon Stewart are next. With a tightening grip over the media, who knows what talk shows will look like in the future?
As of September 22, ABC has reinstated Jimmy Kimmel Live! for its showing on Tuesday, September 23. No one knows if this is its last episode, what Kimmel will say, or any other information.
