ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! It has sparked a political storm, with reactions pouring in from both sides of the aisle. The move came after Nexstar Communications Group, which owns and operates nearly two dozen ABC-affiliated stations, announced it would no longer air the show. This decision followed intense backlash over Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was recently shot dead while delivering a speech at a Utah university. Prosecutors have since charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with Kirk’s murder and confirmed their intent to pursue the death penalty.
US President Donald Trump, addressing a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, praised the suspension but argued it was driven less by free speech concerns and more by Kimmel’s lack of popularity. “Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk,” Trump declared. He went further, dismissing Kimmel as “not a talented person” whose show “should have been cancelled a long time ago.”
Trump then escalated his attacks on Kimmel by resurfacing a 2024 Oscars clip in which the comedian, hosting the ceremony, read out one of Trump’s Truth Social posts and mocked the former president’s legal troubles. On his social media platform, Trump claimed that Kimmel had “made a total FOOL of himself” at the event, embarrassing his family and professional team, and called him “one of the worst hosts in the history of the Academy Awards.”
Kimmel, for his part, has used recent monologues to directly address Kirk’s killing and its political fallout. He accused Republicans of attempting to distort the narrative around the murder and exploiting it for partisan advantage. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise 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. He also mocked Trump’s mourning of Kirk, likening the president’s public comments to how “a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Trump, emboldened by ABC’s suspension of the late-night show, has urged other networks to follow suit. On Truth Social, he congratulated the network for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done” and demanded that NBC fire fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, who are also regular critics of his presidency.
The suspension has provoked strong pushback from Democrats and free speech advocates, who argue that silencing comedians over politically charged jokes sets a dangerous precedent. They contend that the decision reflects growing political pressure on networks rather than genuine editorial judgment.
The clash over Kimmel’s fate now sits at the intersection of entertainment, politics, and press freedom. As Disney executives deliberate the show’s long-term future, the controversy has amplified debates over the limits of comedy, the influence of political figures on media, and whether corporate broadcasters are caving to partisan demands.
