“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has been suspended indefinitely by ABC, following his comments about Charlie Kirk’s death.According to an ABC network spokesperson, they are pulling the show indefinitely and plan to air “Celebrity Family Feud” for the next two nights in its place, with future programming to be determined.Nexstar was first to announce that it would no longer air Kimmel’s late-night show on its 23 ABC affiliates across the country. There was no immediate comment from Kimmel, whose contract is up in May 2026.In his monologue on Tuesday, Kimmel said that “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.” Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr appeared on a podcast Wednesday, where he suggested that local affiliates should pull Kimmel from the air.Later in the day, Carr posted on X, saying, “I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing. Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nexstar’s lead.” Trump celebrated ABC’s move on the social media site Truth Social, writing: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”He also targeted two other late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and said they should be canceled too, calling them “two total losers.” In July, after CBS canceled “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Trump wrote on his social media platform: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!” Like Colbert, Kimmel has been consistently been critical of Trump and many of his policies.Kimmel’s show pulled as audience waited for tapingAn audience was lined up outside the theater where “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” tapes when they were told Wednesday’s show was canceled.“We were just about to walk in — 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, told The Associated Press outside the theater. “They didn’t tell us what had happened. They just said that the show was canceled.”Williams said he was worried someone had been injured — until he saw that ABC had announced nearly at the same time online that the preemption was indefinite. Williams hadn’t been aware of Kimmel’s comments on Kirk, but sought them out after the announcement. The business landscape around late-night televisionBoth Disney and Nexstar have FCC business ahead of them. Disney is seeking regulatory approval for ESPN’s acquisition of the NFL Network and Nexstar needs the Trump administration go-ahead to complete its $6.2 billion purchase of broadcast rival Tegna.For both companies, reinstating Kimmel after a suspension would risk the ire of Trump, who has already claimed that the show has been canceled.While CBS said this past summer that it was canceling Colbert’s show next May for financial reasons, some critics have wondered if his stance on Trump played a role. Both Colbert and Kimmel have made the president the frequent target of his 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 said then. “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.FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the administration for “using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression” in a post on X.“Another media outlet withered under government pressure, ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution on broadcasters and publishers who criticize it,” said Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy 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 Associated Press contributed to this report.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has been suspended indefinitely by ABC, following his comments about Charlie Kirk’s death.
According to an ABC network spokesperson, they are pulling the show indefinitely and plan to air “Celebrity Family Feud” for the next two nights in its place, with future programming to be determined.
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Nexstar was first to announce that it would no longer air Kimmel’s late-night show on its 23 ABC affiliates across the country.
There was no immediate comment from Kimmel, whose contract is up in May 2026.
In his monologue on Tuesday, Kimmel said that “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.”
Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr appeared on a podcast Wednesday, where he suggested that local affiliates should pull Kimmel from the air.
Later in the day, Carr posted on X, saying, “I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing. Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nexstar’s lead.”
Trump celebrated ABC’s move on the social media site Truth Social, writing: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
He also targeted two other late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, and said they should be canceled too, calling them “two total losers.” In July, after CBS canceled “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” Trump wrote on his social media platform: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!” Like Colbert, Kimmel has been consistently been critical of Trump and many of his policies.
Kimmel’s show pulled as audience waited for taping
An audience was lined up outside the theater where “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” tapes when they were told Wednesday’s show was canceled.
“We were just about to walk in — 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, told The Associated Press outside the theater. “They didn’t tell us what had happened. They just said that the show was canceled.”
Williams said he was worried someone had been injured — until he saw that ABC had announced nearly at the same time online that the preemption was indefinite. Williams hadn’t been aware of Kimmel’s comments on Kirk, but sought them out after the announcement.
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 Network and Nexstar needs the Trump administration go-ahead to complete its $6.2 billion purchase of broadcast rival Tegna.
For both companies, reinstating Kimmel after a suspension would risk the ire of Trump, who has already claimed that the show has been canceled.
While CBS said this past summer that it was canceling Colbert’s show next May for financial reasons, some critics have wondered if his stance on Trump played a role. Both Colbert and Kimmel have made the president the frequent target of his 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 said then. “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.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized the administration for “using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression” in a post on X.
“Another media outlet withered under government pressure, ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution on broadcasters and publishers who criticize it,” said Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy 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 Associated Press contributed to this report.
