High-profile individuals and groups from Hollywood and Washington have shared mixed reactions following the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show. Walt Disney Co.’s ABC pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after the veteran host made controversial remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. What did Jimmy Kimmel say? The late-night comic commented on the reaction to Kirk’s death during his show on Monday. Kimmel suggested during his Monday monologue that Kirk’s alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, may have been a supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump. “The MAGA gang (is) 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 between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.” However, U.S. officials said Robinson, 22, of Utah followed “leftist ideology” and that he told his transgender partner he had enough of Kirk’s “hatred.” Walt Disney Co.’s ABC has been airing the show since 2003. It didn’t state why it chose to pre-empt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Nexstar also decided to pause the show. The company operates 23 ABC affiliates and said in a statement that it “strongly objects” to Kimmel’s remarks. Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.” Kimmel didn’t immediately provide a comment to various publications. Another TV station group, Sinclair, followed suit. It said in a statement that Kimmel’s suspension “is not enough.” “Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return Jimmy Kimmel Live! to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform,” it wrote. It also urged Kimmel to directly apologize to the Kirk family and donate to Kirk’s family and his organization, Turning Point USA. How are people reacting? Some prominent people praised ABC’s decision to suspend the show. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Wednesday. “Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even (Stephen) Colbert, if that’s possible.” Colbert also received bad news about his show earlier in July. CBS had announced that Colbert’s “Late Show” would end in May 2026. Although it said the reason was financial, The Associated Press reported, the announcement occurred several days after Colbert criticized the deal between Trump and CBS parent Paramount Global over a “60 Minutes” story. David Letterman, the legendary TV host of “The Late Show” and Colbert’s predecessor, commented on the Kimmel controversy during The Atlantic Festival 2025 in New York. He said he objected to people being fired because they don’t “suck up” to “an authoritarian” president. “It’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous,” he was quoted as saying in the Associated Press report. Former U.S. president Barack Obama also weighed in on the Kimmel controversy. “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” Obama wrote on X on Thursday. In the post, Obama included a link to a Vox column by Zack Beauchamp. Beauchamp wrote Wednesday that Kimmel was taken off the air because “the Trump administration didn’t like what he had to say — and threatened his employer until they shut him up.” Obama made another X post Thursday. He linked to a New York Times article about Karen Attiah, a former columnist for The Washington Post. Obama wrote that it was an example of what he called “government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent.” Attiah said she was fired last week over her social media posts in which she wrote about “racial double standards” and inaction over gun violence in the wake of Kirk’s death, the New York Times reported on Sept. 15. Brendan Carr, a Republican whom Trump appointed as Federal Communications Commission chairman, told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson on Wednesday that Kimmel’s comments were “truly sick.” He said Kimmel seemed to be intentionally trying to spread misinformation that Kirk’s assassin was a right-wing Trump supporter. Anna Gomez, an FCC Democratic commissioner, wrote on X that the Trump administration “is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression.” The Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East criticized the move. “What we have signed on to – painful as it may be at times – is the freeing agreement to disagree,” the two organizations said in a joint statement reported by Reuters. “Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world.” SAG-AFTRA, the union representing actors and media professionals, said in a statement that the “decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms,” Reuters reported. Actor Ben Stiller wrote “This isn’t right” on X on Wednesday in response to another post about the show’s suspension. Comedian Wanda Sykes shared her reaction on Instagram on Wednesday after she said she was supposed to be on Kimmel’s show. She criticized Trump in response to the show’s suspension. “So let’s see. He didn’t end the Ukraine war or solve Gaza within his first week. But he did end freedom of speech within his first year,” Sykes said in a video post. “Hey, for those of you who pray, now’s the time to do it. Love you Jimmy.” Alex Edelman, who stars in “The Office” spinoff “The Paper,” complained about “censorship” in a few posts on X. “This is the actual cancel culture everyone claims to hate so much,” he wrote in a post Wednesday with a link to a story about Kimmel. With files from The Associated Press, CNN and Reuters
