ABC pulls Kimmel off the air over Kirk comments

ABC shared that Jimmy Kimmel Live would be pulled from its late-night lineup indefinitely following the late-night host s comments about Charlie Kirk s killer Earlier this week Kimmel reported that conservative commentators were attempting to number political points from Kirk s assassination in Utah He speculated that the gunman was a fellow Republican and mocked the rush to pin blame on political opponents 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 figure political points from it Kimmel disclosed In between the finger-pointing there was grieving While the organization did not give a reason for the decision it followed threats of action against ABC and parent company Disney from FCC Chair Brendan Carr Carr called Kimmel s comments the sickest conduct practicable and made noises about revoking broadcast licenses over the joke in an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson These companies can find options to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel or there s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead Carr reported ABC was facing pressure from Nexstar Media Group the largest owner of local television stations in the United States That company mentioned it would pre-empt Kimmel s scheme for the foreseeable future Nexstar strongly objects to contemporary comments made by Mr Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other offerings in its ABC-affiliated markets Nexstar reported on Wednesday Related The media learned all the wrong lessons from The decision to pull Kimmel is not the first time that ABC has bowed out of a fight with the Trump administration The framework settled a defamation lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump earlier this year That suit came after host George Stephanopoulos commented the president had been uncovered liable for rape while talking about writer E Jean Carroll s court cases against the president The judge who presided over the Trump trial admitted that a jury detected Trump liable of sexual abuse and defamation not rape but called it a distinction without a difference in the real world The finding that Ms Carroll failed to prove that she was raped within the meaning of the New York Penal Law does not mean that she failed to prove that Mr Trump raped her as a great number of people commonly understand the word rape Kaplan wrote in a filing in ABC wasn t willing to try that argument in a different court opting instead to pay million to Trump s charitable foundation and museum Start your day with essential news from Salon Sign up for our free morning newsletter Crash Lesson Kimmel s half-firing follows CBS announcement of the end of The Late Show Host and frequent Trump critic Stephen Colbert was blindsided by the news which came as CBS parent company was attempting a massive merger that needed Trump administration approval After the show won an Emmy earlier this week Colbert encouraged Americans to be brave in the coming years Sometimes you only truly know how much you love something when you get a sense that you might be losing it he announced Ten years later in September of my friends I have never loved my country more desperately God bless America Stay strong Read more about Trump and the networks We remain committed to trusted journalism ABC axes Terry Moran following Trump Miller criticism Trump FCC chair threatens action against Kimmel over Kirk segment House Democrats demand answers on Trump-Paramount bribe The post ABC pulls Kimmel off the air over Kirk comments appeared first on Salon com