Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show is on ice right now — and it’s not just a brief time-out. After the host’s recent commentary on the death of extreme right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk, America’s biggest ABC affiliate operator, Sinclair, suspended the show “indefinitely” and left viewers and industry insiders asking what it’ll take for Jimmy to come back.
What is happening with Jimmy Kimmel’s show?
Sinclair made it clear in their press release: they “will not lift the suspension of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability”.
That means Kimmel needs to meet directly with ABC about what’s expected on national TV. The broadcaster is also demanding that “Mr. Kimmel… issue a direct apology to the Kirk family” and make “a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA”, the youth political group founded by Kirk.
In the meantime, Sinclair’s vice chairman Jason Smith described the comments as “inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country”, and the group is airing a remembrance special for Kirk during Kimmel’s usual slot.
Why did this all happen?
Kimmel’s removal came on the heels of a segment where he said, “We reached some unprecedented lows over the weekend, with the MAGA group desperately attempting to frame the individual murdered Charlie as anything than one their own, while trying to exploit the situation for political gain.”
That didn’t land well with companies running ABC stations. Nexstar, another huge TV group, echoed Sinclair’s decision and explained Kimmel’s remarks “are offensive and insensitive at a critical moment in our national political dialogue”.
“Continuing to offer Mr. Kimmel a platform in our communities is not in the public interest at this moment, prompting our challenging decision to preempt his show to allow for a return to respectful and constructive dialogue,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, in a statement.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called Kimmel’s words “truly sick” and flagged the possibility of the agency taking regulatory action, escalating public and political pressure.
Trump’s response to Jimmy Kimmel
Donald Trump quickly weighed in. At a press conference in the UK, he said, “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.
“Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. You can call it free speech or not — he was fired for lack of talent.”
Trump also congratulated ABC “for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even [Stephen] Colbert, if that’s possible”.
The pattern
This isn’t the first time a late-night host has faced the axe in a tense political moment. Earlier this year, Stephen Colbert’s show was also cancelled following critical remarks about Trump. The backlash to Kimmel’s suspension has been fierce, especially among Democrats and free speech advocates. Former US President Barack Obama said, “After years of expressing concerns over cancel culture, the current administration has escalated it to a new and perilous level.”
Melissa Grelo, speaking on Canadian talk show The Social, noted that it seemed other programs airing on the same network as Jimmy Kimmel weren’t commenting on either Charlie Kirk’s death or the fallout from Kimmel’s suspension.
“We thought, ‘What are the ladies of The View gonna say? Are they gonna even touch it? It’s their network.’ And guess what happened — they never touched it,” Grelo said.
“It doesn’t surprise me, but I am surprised — they have never shied away from difficult topics, much like us on the show, and it just reminded me that money talks, but money also silences.”
So far, Kimmel remains off the air. Whether he meets all the new conditions is still to be seen.
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