ABC announced Wednesday that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s live show was suspended indefinitely over comments made in a segment about the death of Charlie Kirk.
“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,” Kimmel said on the show. “And doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
The decision to place “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on hiatus came as Disney, the owner of ABC, faced pressure from conservative groups and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.
“It appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,” Carr said on The Benny Show, a podcast hosted by conservative commentator Benny Johnson. “There’s calls for Kimmel to be fired. You can certainly see a path forward for suspension.”
The nightly talk show was suspended later that evening.
Carr defended his comments on CNBC, saying that Kimmel’s words were “appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact, probably about one of the most significant political events we’ve had in a long time.”
He then said that because Kimmel’s comments were shown on a station with a Broadcast TV license, he was under an obligation to serve the public by the FCC, which local programming claimed he did not do.
The sentiment seemed to be in direct opposition to a 2019 tweet in which Carr said, “The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of public interest.”
Some of Sinclair Broadcast Group’s local ABC stations announced that during Kimmel’s former 90-minute timeslot this Friday, they will be airing a tribute to Charlie Kirk.
However, Kimmel is not the first talk show host to face network censorship this year.
Earlier in July, Paramount Global settled with the Trump administration for $16 million after claims that a CBS “60 Minutes” segment with interview guest Kamala Harris aired substantial inauthentic edits.
Late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert went on the air and criticized the network for its decision to settle a few days after it had been announced. His show was cancelled two days later and is expected to air for the final time in May 2026.
President Donald Trump weighed in on the matter to applaud ABC for the temporary and indefinite removal of Kimmel as a host. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” he posted on Truth Social, the same platform on which he said he “love[s] that Colbert got fired.”
Not everyone shares Carr and Trump’s perspectives. Aseer Adeeb, a third-year master’s student studying Film and Television production, said that even if comedy can be “distasteful,” freedom of speech “needs to be absolute.”
“Specifically for this case, it’s just ironic and funny that it wasn’t even a comment that was that distasteful,” said Adeeb.
Adeeb said he believes late-night television has historically been and continues to be valuable to the political sphere.
“It’s an age-old art form that has existed in many ways. A very important function of comedy is to be able to make fun of people who are in power–kings at a time would have gestures in their court with impunity, so they could get reality checks on what could actually be the problems of the people.”
The Writers Guild of America West, a labor union for television writers on the West Coast, released a statement Wednesday evening condemning the suspension of Kimmel by suggesting the acts of ABC were those of “corporate cowardice.”
“As a Guild, we stand united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent…Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth,” the statement said. “As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world. The WGA stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.”