ABC said it is pulling the comedian’s late-night talk show off the air “indefinitely” following his controversial comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson confirmed to The Post Wednesday, Sept. 17.
Kimmel, 57, faced backlash after he said Monday night that the “MAGA gang” was trying to score political points off Kirk’s murder after the conservative activist was shot dead on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Sept. 10.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” Kimmel said during his monologue.
Nexstar Media Group, the major broadcast company that serves as a primary affiliate for ABC, confirmed that it would “preempt” Kimmel’s program in the wake of his remarks.
“The company’s 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,” Nexstar said in a press release.
“Nexstar 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,” it continued.
Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, added that Kimmel’s “comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”
“We do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” he said. “Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
The Post reached out to Kimmel’s rep for comment.
His remarks, meanwhile, also caught the eye of the Federal Communications Commission, with Chairman Brendan Carr suggesting Wednesday that the late-night host’s remarks may land him and the network in hot water.
Carr, in an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, described the comedian’s monologue as “some of the sickest conduct possible,” before hinting at possible FCC action.
“Any license granted by us at the FCC, that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr said, explaining federal regulations governing licensed TV stations which prohibit “news distortion.”
“Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr continued. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly on Kimmel, or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
The FCC chairman said a public apology from Kimmel would be “a very reasonable, minimal step” for the comedian, ABC and parent company Disney to take.
“There are calls for Kimmel to be fired,” Carr noted. “I think, you know, you could certainly see a path forward for a suspension over this. And, again, you know, the FCC is going to have remedies that we could look at. This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney.”
Kimmel, however, isn’t the first late-night host and comedian to have his show pulled following political controversy.
In July, it was announced that Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” would be ending after its next season.
Although CBS stated that it was “purely a financial decision,” some speculated that the move was in response to the host’s controversial remark that Paramount’s $16 million settlement with President Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview was a “big fat bribe.”
