Jimmy Kimmel’s TV talk-show has been indefinitely pulled by ABC following his recent remarks about Charlie Kirk.
The 57-year-old comedian’s long-running TV talk-show has been taken of the air, after he recently suggested that Tyler Robinson, the man accused of fatally shooting Kirk at a university in Utah, was aligned to the Make America Great Again movement.
He said during a monologue on the show: “The MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
He added: “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
Nexstar Media, the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the US, has now confirmed that it plans to “replace the show with other programming”.
The company said in a statement: “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.”
Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, believes keeping the comedian’s show on the air is “simply not in the public interest at the current time”.
He said: “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.”
Alford hopes that the decision will allow “cooler heads” to prevail.
The Nexstar boss is also hopeful of restoring “respectful, constructive dialogue”.
He said: “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.”
Meanwhile, Brendan Carr – the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – previously warned that the agency, which regulates the broadcast industry in the US, could take action against the broadcaster.
He told podcaster Benny Johnson: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
