ABC confirmed Wednesday that the popular late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has been “pre-empted indefinitely” following comments Kimmel made on the show in response to the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson told CBS News in a statement. There was no word on if or when the show may return. Kimmel’s show has been a staple of the network since it began airing in 2003.
CBS News has reached out to Kimmel’s representatives for comment.
ABC’s announcement came after media giant Nexstar announced in a news release that it would pre-empt Kimmel’s show indefinitely on all its stations over Kimmel’s remarks.
“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,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, in a statement. “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.”
Nexstar owns and operates more than 200 stations nationwide. It’s unclear how many of those are ABC affiliates.
Michael Le Brecht/Disney via Getty Images
Sinclair Broadcast Group, another major station owner, also said it was pulling the show.
“Due to problematic comments regarding the murder of Charlie Kirk in programming provided to broadcast stations by ABC, Sinclair and its partners, which operate ABC stations in 30 markets in the U.S., will stop airing Jimmy Kimmel’s show until further notice,” the company said.
Sinclair said it will instead air a “special in remembrance of Charlie Kirk during Jimmy Kimmel Live timeslot” on Friday.
The company also called on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family and make a “meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.”
“Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform,” Sinclair said.
Kimmel made the remarks in his monologue Monday, suggesting allies of President Trump were trying to use Kirk’s assassination for political gain.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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 a Truth Social post Wednesday night, Mr. Trump, who is currently in the United Kingdom for a state visit, wrote that the “ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” although ABC did not say that Kimmel’s show has been canceled and has not indicated what its plans are for the show moving forward.
“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Trump went on to attack Stephen Colbert, host of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” which is in its final season on CBS, as well as Jimmy Fallon, host of “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon,” and Seth Meyers, host of “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” both on NBC.
“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible,” Mr. Trump wrote. “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”
CBS News has reached out to NBC for comment.
In a podcast interview earlier Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr referred to Kimmel’s comments as “some of the sickest conduct possible,” and said there was a “path forward for suspension over this.”
“The FCC is going to have remedies we could look at,” he said.
In a social media post prior to ABC’s confirmation that it was pre-empting the show, Carr praised Nexstar for its decision.
“I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing,” Carr wrote. “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.”
The FCC’s website features a fact sheet about freedom of speech that says the agency is “barred by law from trying to prevent the broadcast of any point of view.”
“Expressions of views that do not involve a ‘clear and present danger of serious, substantive evil’ come under the protection of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press and prevents suppression of these expressions by the FCC,” the fact sheet reads. “According to an FCC opinion on this subject, ‘the public interest is best served by permitting free expression of views.’ This principle ensures that the most diverse and opposing opinions will be expressed, even though some may be highly offensive.”
The Writers Guild of America, which represents the writers on Kimmel’s show, said in a statement Wednesday night, “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. If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn’t have bothered to write it into the Constitution. What we have signed on to — painful as it may be at times — is the freeing agreement to disagree.”
“Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth,” the WGA added. “As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world.”
SAG- AFTRA, the union representing actors, said in a statement that ABC’s decision “is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms.”
Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media following the move: “America is meant to be a bastion of free speech. Everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what’s happening to Jimmy Kimmel. This is about protecting democracy. This must go to court.”
Backlash over comments
Amid heightened tension over the issue of political violence in the wake of Kirk’s killing, a number of people have lost their jobs for controversial comments.
MSNBC fired analyst Matthew Dowd after he said in an on-air conversation that Kirk had pushed incendiary speech and that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.” In a public statement, Comcast accused Dowd of making “an unacceptable and insensitive comment about this horrific event.”
Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah wrote in a Substack post Monday that the company dismissed her last week after she spoke out “against political violence, racial double standards, and America’s apathy toward guns,” noting that she only referred to Kirk once in a separate social media post.
A Washington Post spokesperson declined to comment when reached by CBS News.
A U.S. Secret Service agent was also put on leave and his security clearance revoked for expressing negative opinions about Kirk in a social media post following the killing.
In a memo to staff provided to CBS News, Secret Service Director Sean Curran said politically motivated attacks in the United States are on the rise, and staff shouldn’t exacerbate the problem.
“Let me be clear, politically motivated attacks in our nation are increasing — seemingly every day,” Curran wrote. “The men and women of the Secret Service must be focused on being the solution, not adding to the problem.”
Megan Cerullo,
Nicole Sganga and
Jennifer Jacobs
contributed to this report.
