ABC pauses Kimmel over comments on Charlie Kirk assassination

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(The Center Square) – ABC is dropping late-night host Jimmy Kimmel over comments he made about the assassination of activist Charlie Kirk.

Nexstar Media Group Inc. said Wednesday that, starting Wednesday night, the company's television stations will stop airing "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" for the "foreseeable future." 

"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," the company said in a statement.

Trump encouraged NBC to cancel the rest of the existing late-night lineup.

"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. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "That leaves Jimmy [Fallon] and Seth [Meyers], two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT"

On Monday, Kimmel opened the show with a monologue that compared Trump's mourning of Kirk to "the way a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish."

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with 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 his monologue.

An assassin shot and killed Kirk, a close ally of Trump, during an event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Trump said his son, Don, told him, "He's sort of like a son to you." Vice President J.D. Vance took Kirk's casket on Air Force Two to his home state of Arizona.

Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division, said canceling Kimmel's show was a "difficult decision."

"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," he said 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."

Sinclair, the nation's largest ABC affiliate group, said ABC didn't go far enough.

"Mr. Kimmel's remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country," Vice Chairman Jason Smith said in a statement. "We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities."

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said on Benny Johnson's show earlier Wednesday that Kimmel's comments were "some of the sickest."

"One of the most significant newsworthy public interest acts that we've seen in a long time in what appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into that narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or a Republican-motivated person," Carr told the host.

The accused assassin told his roommate: "I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can't be negotiated out" before climbing a rooftop to shoot Kirk during a speaking event at the college.

Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith said government must intervene.

"We appreciate FCC Chairman Carr's remarks today and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks."

Sinclair's ABC stations will air a remembrance of Charlie Kirk on Friday during "Jimmy Kimmel Live's" time slot. 

Sinclair also called on Kimmel to apologize to the Kirk family and "make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA."