Jimmy Kimmel Live! pulled by ABC stations over host's Charlie Kirk comments

ABC stations pulling 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!'

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LOS ANGELES - Jimmy Kimmel is under fire over his comments about Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist who was shot and killed in Utah.

What we know:

According to a report from TMZ, Disney's ABC – the network airing "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" – is suspending the host over his comments about Kirk.

A memo published by Nexstar partially confirmed TMZ's report, saying Kimmel's show will be pulled "for the foreseeable future." According to Nexstar's memo, the TV company's ABC-affiliate stations will be ordered to "preempt" Kimmel's late-night show.

"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," Nexstar's Sept. 17 memo read.

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Across the country, people are facing backlash or even losing their jobs over their reactions to the Charlie Kirk shooting on social media. [SUGGESTED]

The backstory:

During Monday, Sept. 16 broadcast of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" the host accused the GOP of hitting "new lows" regarding how the party reacted to Kirk's death.

"MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them," Kimmel said earlier in the week. "Everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the President is taking this." 

Kimmel then mocked President Donald Trump's reaction to Kirk's death, who was the one announcing the conservative activist's death to the nation.

"[Trump is] at the fourth stage of grief construction, demolition, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish," Kimmel said during Monday's show.

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What they're saying:

Below is a partial statement released by Nexstar's president of broadcast division, Andrew Alford:

"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."

The other side:

Across the pond, Trump took to his Truth Social account during his United Kingdom visit to taunt Kimmel.

"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," he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump then challenged other networks to go after Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.

"That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!" he wrote.

What we don't know:

As of Wednesday, it is unknown if Kimmel will appeal the suspension or will be able to.

Neither Nexstar, ABC, nor Disney made any announcements on how long the indefinite suspension will last.

Big picture view:

Kimmel joins Stephen Colbert among the latest high-profile late-night hosts to have their networks pull the plug on their shows.

Colbert revealed back in July 2025 that his show will end on May 2026. Colbert's network, Paramount, claimed in a statement released earlier this year that the show needed to end due to "financial" reasons.

However, the announcement of Colbert's show ending came just days after the host criticized Paramount for settling a lawsuit with Trump over a "60 Minutes" story, instead of fighting back in court.

"I don’t know if anything — anything — will repair my trust in this company," Colbert said of the Paramount settlement back in July 2025. "But, just taking a stab at it, I’d say $16 million would help."

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' to end May 2026

This story was reported from Los Angeles.