Actor Jason Bateman said his friend Jimmy Kimmel being taken off the air over his comments about Charlie Kirk’s death is “troubling to say the least.”
The Ozark star, 56, spoke on the Today show about ABC suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! “indefinitely” after the 57-year-old claimed MAGA is capitalizing on the death of Kirk “to score political points.”
“Well, it’s troubling to say the least,” Bateman told host Craig Melvin. “And we all have to really take a moment and figure out how we feel about this type of thing.”
ABC pulled Kimmel off the air after Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr threatened its broadcasting license amid a MAGA backlash. Speaking to conservative podcast host Benny Johnson, the Trump appointee said, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Kimmel said on his Monday show: “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.”
Kimmel’s suspension comes amid a wider push from MAGA to clamp down on anti-Kirk speech or posts in the wake of the assassination of the right-wing activist and Turning Point USA co-founder.
Vice President JD Vance, a friend of the late 31-year-old, has encouraged anyone who sees others celebrating his death to “call them out, and hell, call their employer.”
The climate has exacerbated concerns over free speech on the left, and Bateman suggested conversations over a response to the clampdown are likely already underway.
“I’m sure there’s going to be some sort of collective move to respond to this,” he said, “but I’m not smart enough or powerful enough to be the one to do it but I imagine there’s plenty of conversations going on to do something, because you just can’t stand by and let stuff like that go on.”
Asked by Melvin what that “stuff” was, the Arrested Development star replied with a grimace, “Well, Jimmy getting his show pulled for, you know, freedom of speech.”
Following backlash from MAGA supporters over Kimmel’s comments, executives from ABC, Disney, and national network affiliates reportedly held crisis talks, where many initially backed Kimmel following Monday’s show. Amid fear of further repercussions from longtime Kimmel critic President Donald Trump, however, they ultimately decided to pull the plug, with sources telling Rolling Stone execs were “p—ing themselves.”
Nexstar, which owns more than 30 ABC affiliates, said it wouldn’t be running Kimmel’s show “For the foreseeable future.” Nexstar is working on a $6.2 billion merger with media company Tegna, which will need FCC approval.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson later told CNN, announcing the decision.
When CNN then approached Carr for comment, he responded with a meme from The Office showing Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson “raising the roof.”
Kimmel’s monologue featured footage of Trump being asked how he was “holding up” after Kirk’s shooting, to which the president said, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”
In the wake of Kimmel’s removal, Trump wrote, “The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
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