ABC on Wednesday night pulled the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” late-night show off the air “indefinitely” after outrage over its host’s comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The announcement came hours after the head of the Federal Communications Commission suggested that the broadcast licence of ABC, a subsidiary of Disney, was at risk.
Nexstar Media Group, just before ABC’s announcement, said that its stations affiliated with ABC would “preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight’s show” because of Jimmy Kimmel’s statements about Kirk’s slaying.
Nexstar is seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna.
A person familiar with Kimmel’s situation told CNBC that the host is not fired. That person said that Disney plans to speak with him about what the comedian should say when he goes back on the air.
In his opening monologue for Monday night’s show, Kimmel suggested that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Kirk last week at a Utah university, was aligned with President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.
“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,” Kimmel said.
“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving,” he added.
An ABC spokesman on Wednesday night said, “‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ will be pre-empted indefinitely.”
Hours earlier, FCC Chair Brendan Carr told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that Kimmel’s comments were “truly sick,” and that there was a “strong case” for action against ABC and Disney.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
“They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” said Carr, whose agency in March told Disney and ABC that it was launching an investigation of the companies’ diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
ABC’s pre-emption of Kimmel’s show is the latest dramatic example of a media figure suffering backlash for their public comments about Kirk’s assassination.
MSNBC fired political analyst Matthew Dowd last week after he said on-air about the killing that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.”
The Washington Post fired an opinion columnist, Karen Attiah, after she said there were “racial double standards” in social media reactions to Kirk’s slaying.
In June, ABC News cut ties with star national correspondent Terry Moran after he called Trump and senior White House advisor Stephen Miller “world-class” haters in a social media post.
Trump on Wednesday crowed about Kimmel’s show being pre-empted, and suggested that NBC cancel its own shows, “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” and “Late Night with Seth Myers.”
“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!” Trump wrote.
The White House’s rapid-response account on X said in a tweet that ABC was “doing their viewers a favor.”
“Jimmy is a sick freak!” the tweet said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer condemned ABC’s action.
“America is meant to be a bastion of free speech,” Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a tweet.
“Everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what’s happening to Jimmy Kimmel.This is about protecting democracy,” the senator wrote.
Nexstar, in its statement, said, “Nexstar 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,” Nextstar said.
Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said, “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.”
“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,” Alford said.
Carr, the FCC chief, in a post on X wrote, “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,” Carr wrote.
— CNBC’s Alex Sherman contributed to this story.
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