Fans of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will have to make do without new episodes for the time being.
ABC confirmed it has indefinitely pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show following comments he made on a Sept. 15 episode regarding the fatal shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The remarks were made during his opening monologue when the “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” host criticized supporters of President Donald Trump following the arrest of Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old charged in Kirk’s murder.
“We hit 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 doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during his opening monologue.
Trump, a frequent critic of the talk show host and who has repeatedly pressured broadcasters to stop airing content he has found objectionable, celebrated the suspension in a Truth Social post where he claimed the show had been canceled. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote from the UK amid a historic second state visit to Britain.
He also urged NBC to cancel both “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” writing that they’re “two total losers” and airing on “Fake News NBC.”
But is “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” really canceled for good? Here’s what we know.
Did Jimmy Kimmel get canceled?
As of Wednesday, Sept. 17 − when news broke of the fate of Kimmel’s late-night talk show − the host has not been fired and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has not been canceled. Instead, the talk show “will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said in a statement to USA TODAY.
According to The Associated Press and CNN, Kimmel’s contract with ABC is up in May 2026. The network has aired Kimmel’s late-night show since 2003.
USA TODAY has reached out to Kimmel’s representatives for comment.
Nexstar Media Group Inc. said on Wednesday, Sept. 17, it would stop airing the show on its 32 ABC affiliates. “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, in a statement.
What has the FCC chairman said about Jimmy Kimmel?
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, had seemingly threatened ABC, Disney and Kimmel over his monologue about Kirk during a YouTube episode of commentator Benny Johnson’s show on Sept. 17. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said.
In a Fox News interview Wednesday, Carr said it is time for broadcasters and the FCC to fulfill its “unique obligation” of operating in the public interest. He criticized late-night shows for “enforcing a very narrow political ideology” instead of “being court jesters that would make fun of everybody in power.”
“And Nexstar, as you noted, stood up and said, ‘Look, we have the license, and we don’t want to run this anymore. We don’t think it serves the interests of our community.’ Sinclair did the same thing,” Carr said. “So, there’s more work to go, but I’m very glad to see that America’s broadcasters are standing up to serve the interests of their community. We don’t just have this progressive foie gras coming out from New York and Hollywood.”
What does ‘preempt’ mean?
Preempting in the context of television programming is when one show is substituted for another. In this case, it’s a euphemism for pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from the air.
Why did ABC News also fold to Trump?
ABC News settled a Trump lawsuit in 2024. Trump had sued for defamation after anchor George Stephanopoulos said on air that Trump had been found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll; Trump was found guilty of sexually abusing and defaming Carroll. Many legal experts believed ABC News had a good case.
Contributing: Reach Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic
