ABC suspends 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' after Charlie Kirk comments spark backlash

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show has been abruptly suspended by ABC following a firestorm over his comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

A network spokesperson confirmed on Wednesday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be “pre-empted indefinitely,” a stunning decision for one of the longest-running late-night staples.

The announcement came just hours after Nexstar Media Group, one of the largest owners of local TV stations, including 28 ABC affiliates, said it would no longer air the show. Other station groups also reportedly expressed concern, fueling speculation that ABC was facing an affiliate revolt.

What Kimmel said

The controversy traces back to Kimmel’s Tuesday night monologue, where he discussed the suspect in a shooting linked to Charlie Kirk.“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,” Jimmy said, sparking immediate blowback online.

By Wednesday morning, FCC chairman Brendan Carr had weighed in, warning that affiliates airing the program could risk license scrutiny if such commentary were deemed a “pattern of news distortion.” On a podcast, Carr said affiliates should tell ABC, “Listen, we’re not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we’re running the possibility of license revocation from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion.”

Nexstar pulls the plug

Late Wednesday, Nexstar president Andrew Alford released a sharply worded statement. “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 wrote.

“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’s decision is especially notable as the company pursues a $6.2 billion deal to acquire TEGNA, which owns 13 ABC stations. That deal is still under FCC review. Whether TEGNA will follow Nexstar’s lead is not yet clear.

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Bigger implications

The suspension raises broader questions about how much sway affiliates and regulators now hold over broadcast programming. While Kimmel has weathered controversies before, this marks the first time his show has been yanked off the air in real time.

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For ABC, the timing couldn’t be worse. Nexstar, already the biggest local broadcaster in the U.S., has stations in markets like New Orleans and Salt Lake City, and its stance may pressure other groups to act. Meanwhile, Carr’s public comments add another layer of political heat, echoing his past interventions against networks tied to diversity and equity initiatives.

As for Jimmy, there’s no word yet on whether he’ll address the suspension publicly. But for now, the late-night mainstay is off the air — a rare, and potentially precedent-setting, break in late-night TV’s usually steady churn.