Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show pulled ‘indefinitely’ by ABC over host’s Charlie Kirk comments
Host Jimmy Kimmel speaks onstage during the 96th Annual Academy Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 10, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
OAN Staff Blake Wolf 5:15 PM – Wednesday, September 17, 2025
ABC announced on Wednesday that it is pulling Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show off the air “indefinitely” in response to his comments regarding the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
During his monologues on Monday and Tuesday, Kimmel criticized conservatives’ response to Kirk’s death, accusing MAGA supporters of politicizing the tragedy and “attempting to deflect blame.” He also mocked President Donald Trump’s and Vice President JD Vance’s responses, comparing Trump’s grief to that of a child while questioning the FBI’s investigation.
“We had 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 with everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel stated. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
In response to Kimmel’s comments, an ABC spokesperson confirmed that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has been “preempted indefinitely”
Prior to the announcement, ABC affiliate Nexstar also stated that it would not broadcast Kimmel’s show “for the foreseeable future.” Nexstar owns America’s largest group of local television stations, a stake in the fifth major broadcast network The CW, and the national cable news network NewsNation, along with multicast networks like Antenna TV and Rewind TV.
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Nexstar emphasized that it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”
“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” stated Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division.
“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue,” he added.
Additionally, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr later referred to Kimmel’s comments as “the sickest conduct possible.”
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr stated. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
The Center for American Rights, a public interest law firm, lodged a complaint against Kimmel as well, arguing that “it is no defense to say that Kimmel was engaging in satire or late-night comedy rather than traditional news.”
“ABC’s affiliates need to step up and hold ABC accountable as a network for passing through material that fails to respect the public-interest standard to which they are held,” wrote Daniel Suhr, the president of the Center for American Rights. “Disney, as ABC’s corporate owner, needs to act directly to correct this problem.”
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