Disney pulls ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ indefinitely following Kirk comments

Disney said Wednesday it would indefinitely suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show following the host’s comments on the fatal shooting of conservative organizer Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel criticized conservatives on Monday for “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.”

“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said Wednesday evening. The spokesperson did not specify why the network had decided to suspend the show. An episode of “Celebrity Family Feud” from July aired in its place Wednesday night.

The decision follows a firestorm of criticism from conservatives, including Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, who implied that his agency could suspend broadcast licenses if it did not take action against the comedian.

“These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Carr said on an episode of conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast released Wednesday afternoon.

Trump lauded the company “for finally having the courage to do what had to be done” in a social media post, while also urging NBC to cancel Jimmy Fallon’s and Seth Meyers’ late-night shows.

The decision also drew praise from Trump allies including senior White House official Taylor Budowich, who commended ABC for doing “the right and reasonable thing.”

The decision comes after ABC broadcast affiliate Nexstar said it would pull Kimmel’s show from its 32 ABC stations “for the foreseeable future” in response to the comedians comments.

Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, called Kimmel’s language “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse” in a statement. Nexstar is currently seeking approval from the FCC for a proposed $6.2 billion acquisition of broadcast rival Tegna.

Carr applauded Nexstar “for doing the right thing” and called on other broadcasters to follow in their footsteps.

“Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest,” Carr wrote in a social media post. “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.”

If Disney decides to cancel Kimmel’s show permanently, he will be the second late-night host to lose his slot in recent months after CBS announced its decision to cancel Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” in July.

While the network insisted the cancellation was “purely a financial decision,” its decision attracted political scrutiny considering Colbert had publicly criticized CBS for offering what he called “a big fat bribe” to President Donald Trump shortly before the announcement. Yesterday, Colbert thanked Kimmel and Jon Stewart on the air for campaigning for him to win the 2025 Emmy for outstanding talk series.

Trump lauded the decision to cancel Colbert’s show, writing after the announcement on social media that “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”

ABC’s move drew sharp criticism from free speech advocates, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s Ari Cohn, who said the network “withered under government pressure, ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution” on media institutions that speak critically of Trump and his allies.

“We cannot be a country where late night talk show hosts serve at the pleasure of the president,” Cohn said in a statement. “But until institutions grow a backbone and learn to resist government pressure, that is the country we are.”

On the day of Kirk’s fatal shooting, Kimmel had sought to ratchet down tensions.

“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” Kimmel wrote on Instagram. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”