Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been taken off the air by ABC, following backlash over host Jimmy Kimmel’s recent remarks about the late Charlie Kirk.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 17.
Variety previously reported on Wednesday that Disney’s ABC decided to remove the late night talk show from the network “indefinitely” after Nexstar Media reportedly threatened to eliminate the show from its lineup.
Nexstar told the outlet on Wednesday that its “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.”
The company noted it “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.”
Us Weekly has reached out to ABC and reps for Kimmel for comment.
Jimmy Kimmel Live!’s abrupt cancellation comes two days after Kimmel, 57, caused a stir for comments about Kirk’s accused killer, Tyler Robinson. (Kirk, a controversial conservative commentator, was shot and killed on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University. He was 31.)
During Kimmel’s Monday, September 15, monologue, he accused conservatives of reaching “new lows” by trying to claim that Robinson, 22, was part of the far-left, after Utah Governor Spencer Cox said on NBC’s Meet the Press one day prior that the alleged killer had a “leftist ideology.”
“The MAGA Gang [is] 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 said during his talk show. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
Robinson is currently in jail after turning himself in earlier this month. He has been charged with capital offense aggravated murder and felony discharge of a firearm. The alleged shooter is also facing multiple counts of obstruction of justice, witness tampering and commission of a violent offense in the presence of a child.
Kimmel, meanwhile, caused outrage from some over his comments, including Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman, Brendan Carr, who called for the comedian to be punished for his remarks.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on the Wednesday episode of The Benny Show. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
He said that an apology from Kimmel would be a “very reasonable, minimal step,” but noted that a “suspension” from the network would also be something to consider.
Prior to his controversial monologue, Kimmel spoke out condemning gun violence in the wake of Kirk’s death.
“Instead of angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote via Instagram earlier this month. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”
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