Kimmel’s future hangs in balance after ABC suspends his late-night show over Charlie Kirk comments

NEW YORK AP Jimmy Kimmel s television future hung in the balance Thursday after ABC suspended his late-night show following the host s comments about Charlie Kirk s killing which prompted dozens of stations to say they wouldn t air the show a move that was cheered on by a top federal regulator The veteran late-night comic made several remarks on Monday and Tuesday about the reaction to the conservative activist s assassination including saying that multiple in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk ABC which has aired Jimmy Kimmel Live since moved swiftly after Nexstar Communications Group disclosed it would pull the show starting Wednesday Kimmel s comments about Kirk s death were offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse reported Andrew Alford president of Nexstar s broadcasting division Nexstar operates ABC affiliates Another company that owns local television stations Sinclair Broadcast Group called on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk s family and make a meaningful personal donation to the activist s political organization Turning Point USA Sinclair says its ABC stations will air a tribute to Kirk on Friday in Kimmel s time slot In an appearance on CNBC Thursday FCC Chairman Brendan Carr cheered the moves by the two affiliate groups to push back against the framework While the Federal Communications Commission does not have power over the television networks it does have the authority to suspend the licenses of their individual stations in local markets We re reinvigorating the FCC s enforcement of the community interest Carr reported and I think that s a good thing There was no immediate comment from Kimmel whose contract is up in May ABC s message did not cite a reason for why his show was preempted President Donald Trump celebrated ABC s move on the social media site Truth Social Congratulations to ABC for absolutely having the courage to do what had to be done he wrote Carr on Wednesday called Kimmel s comments truly sick and stated his agency has a strong development for holding Kimmel ABC and architecture parent Walt Disney Co accountable for spreading misinformation He announced the comic appeared to be making an intentional effort to mislead the inhabitants that Kirk s assassin was a right-wing Trump supporter During his Monday evening monologue Kimmel suggested that the man charged in Kirk s killing Tyler Robinson might have been a pro-Trump Republican 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 sum political points from it Kimmel disclosed In between the finger-pointing there was grieving Personnel say the -year-old grew up in a conservative household in southern Utah but was enmeshed in leftist ideology His parents recounted investigators he had turned politically left and pro-LGBTQ rights in the last year His voter status is inactive meaning he did not vote in two regular general elections He reported his transgender partner that he targeted Kirk because he had enough of his hatred The business landscape around late-night television Both Disney and Nexstar have FCC business ahead of them Disney is seeking regulatory approval for ESPN s acquisition of the NFL Organization and Nexstar requirements the Trump administration s blessing to complete its billion purchase of broadcast rival Tegna For both companies reinstating Kimmel after a suspension would menace the ire of Trump who has already claimed that the show has been canceled Kimmel s suspension comes two months after CBS released that it was canceling Stephen Colbert s late-night show next May for financial reasons But specific critics have wondered if his stance on Trump played a role Both Colbert and Kimmel have made the president the frequent target of jokes Soon after the Colbert cancellation the FCC approved CBS parent company Paramount s long-pending deal with Skydance Trump similarly celebrated Colbert s impending exit I absolutely love that Colbert got fired Trump noted in July His talent was even less than his ratings I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next Within the past year both Disney and CBS parent Paramount chose to settle lawsuits brought by Trump against their news divisions rather than fight it out in court In a post on X FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the administration for using the weight of administration power to suppress lawful expression Another media outlet withered under cabinet pressure ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution on broadcasters and publishers who criticize it commented Ari Cohn lead counsel for hardware program at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression We cannot be a country where late-night talk show hosts serve at the pleasure of the president The scene outside Kimmel s studio after show was suspended Kimmel departed the Hollywood theater where his show is taped about three hours after ABC s decision He kept his head down as he entered a waiting wagon An audience was lined up outside the theater when they were stated Wednesday s show was canceled Interestingly enough they waited to pull the plug on this right as the studio audience was about to walk in Tommy Williams a would-be audience member from Jacksonville Florida recounted The Associated Press outside the theater They didn t tell us what had happened They just reported that the show was canceled More of what Kimmel mentioned on his show Kimmel revealed Trump s response to Kirk s death is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend This is how a -year-old mourns a goldfish OK He also explained that FBI chief Kash Patel has handled the inquiry into the killing like a kid who didn t read the book BSing his way through an oral summary He returned to the topic Tuesday night mocking Vice President JD Vance s performance as guest host for Kirk s podcast He noted Trump was fanning the flames by attacking people on the left Which is it Are they a bunch of sissy pickleball players because they re too scared to be hit by tennis balls Or a well-organized deadly gang of commandos Because they can t be both of those things The move comes as the president his administration and political party have stepped up their effort to police speech about Kirk s death Vance earlier this week urged Americans to turn in fellow citizens who mocked the assassination It is also the latest effort by the administration to use its power to lean on the media Carr has launched investigations of outlets that have angered Trump and the president has sued multiple media organizations for negative coverage