ABC has indefinitely suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after host Jimmy Kimmel‘s Monday monologue inaccurately linked the suspect in conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s fatal shooting at a Utah event to Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
The move followed criticism from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who suggested potential regulatory action, and decisions by affiliates like Nexstar Media Group to drop the show, prompting Disney to halt nationwide broadcasts.
When Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr suggested Jimmy Kimmel should be suspended and said, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” ABC and its local affiliates were listening. Within a matter of hours, ABC suspended Kimmel’s show “indefinitely,” a stunning move that has raised serious First Amendment concerns.
“Trump officials are repeatedly abusing their power to stop ideas they don’t like, deciding who can speak, write, and even joke,” the ACLU said in a statement. “The Trump administration’s actions, paired with ABC’s capitulation, represent a grave threat to our First Amendment freedoms.” –CNN
Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk, filed a $40 million defamation lawsuit against ABC, while the incident has drawn reactions from figures including Barack Obama and Ted Cruz on media accountability and free speech.
James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host and comedian. He is best known as the host and executive producer of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Kimmel has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards three times, in 2012, 2016 and 2020, and the Academy Awards four times, in 2017, 2018, 2023, and 2024.
