‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ indefinitely suspended after comments on Charlie Kirk: reasons and consequences

Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show has been taken off air for an indefinite period of time due to his comments on Charlie Kirk’s shooting, which also targeted Donald Trump.

In what is quickly becoming a concerning consequence of discussing the late podcaster’s death, Jimmy Kimmel Live! seems to be the latest of those to fall out of favour with the current American establishment.

With multiple reasons and outcomes in the mix, here’s a breakdown of the most important ones among them:

What was said

During his Monday evening’s monologue, Kimmel included his observations about Charlie Kirk’s shooting over last weekend.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” he claimed.

Proceeding further, the comedian and host took a sarcastic jab at Trump’s way of “grieving” the far right media personality.

The show displayed a clip of the president addressing the press outside White House and when they asked how he was “holding up”, Trump replied, “I think very good”, before quickly moving on to boast about his current residence’s ballroom construction.

“Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” Kimmel jokingly noted, before adding, “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”

Consequences

A spokesperson for the ABC, the network which aired Kimmel’s show, reported shortly after its suspension, “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely.”

Furthermore, ABC’s parent company Sinclair announced that it will replace the programme with a Charlie Kirk tribute special on Friday, September 19.

Reactions

Trump reacted by celebrating the move on his Truth Social account, declaring, “The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”

While Sinclair has demanded that the late night host apologise to Kirk’s family and deliver “a meaningful personal donation” to them as well as his conservative organisation, Turning Point USA.

Many other public figures and celebrities also condemned the latest development, including Ben Stiller, Wanda Sykes, and California Governor Gavin Newsom, among others.