‘Unthinkable’: Canadian comedian Mike Ward blasts decision to take Kimmel off air

Mike Ward holds up his trophy at the Gala Olivier awards ceremony in Montreal, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes

Canadian comedian Mike Ward says it’s unthinkable that Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show has been taken off the air.

In a series of X posts, Ward says the decision was entirely political and that America should be ashamed of what happened.

Broadcast company ABC said Wednesday it had indefinitely suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following the host’s comments about the assassination of Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel made several remarks on his Monday and Tuesday night shows, including that the suspected killer was an adherent of U.S. President Donald Trump’s political movement.

Ward is an ardent advocate for free speech and became embroiled in a years-long court fight after he was ordered to pay money to a disabled Quebec singer whom he had mocked in a routine.

The case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled in 2021 that Ward’s disparaging comments did not amount to discrimination under Quebec’s rights charter.

Ward wrote on X that Kimmel has “always defended free speech” and was “the nicest guy.” The comedian blamed the U.S.-based Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, for Kimmel’s suspension.

“This is 100 per cent political,” Ward wrote. “USA was THE global symbol of free speech, it’s turning into a pale copy of a once great nation. Shame on you America.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2025.

— With files from The Associated Press