ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after backlash over the late-night host’s remarks on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. While many media reports highlighted Kimmel’s Monday night monologue as the catalyst, a look back at his final episodes shows he raised the topic in multiple monologues since Sept. 10.
So, what did Kimmel say about Kirk and the reaction to his killing in the days before the show was pulled?
Thursday, Sept. 11
Before guests Sean Penn and Owen Cooper joined him on stage the night after Kirk’s assassination, Kimmel opened with this commentary:
“Thank you for joining us from Los Angeles, the second-largest city in our bitterly divided nation, where, like the rest of the country, we’re still trying to wrap our heads around the senseless murder of the popular podcaster and conservative activist Charlie Kirk yesterday, whose death has amplified our anger, our differences,” Kimmel said. “I’ve seen a lot of extraordinarily vile responses to this from both sides of the political spectrum. Some people are cheering this, which is something I won’t ever understand.”
Kimmel then transitioned into a broader description of political division:
“With all these terrible things happening, you would think that our president would at least make an attempt to bring us together, but he didn’t. President Obama did. President Biden did. Presidents Bush and Clinton did,” he said, while showing screenshots of former presidents’ social media statements. “President Trump did not. Instead, he blamed Democrats for their rhetoric.”
Kimmel then continued with his usual comedic commentary on President Trump and other political figures. (For the full monologue, click here)
The late-night host did not air a new broadcast on Friday.
Monday, Sept. 15
Multiple media outlets, including the BBC and The New York Times, reported that Kimmel’s Monday night monologue ultimately led ABC to suspend his program. The network’s decision followed threats of action from FCC Chair Brendan Carr and Nexstar Media Group’s announcement that it would drop the show from its ABC-affiliated stations.
Nexstar is the parent company of KTLA. In its statement, the company said it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk.”
“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,” stated the president of the company’s broadcasting division, Andrew Alford. “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.”
All reports, including Variety’s breaking coverage, pointed to Kimmel’s comment about two minutes into Monday’s monologue:
“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 continued in his typical monologue style:
“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving on Friday,” he said. “The White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the President is taking this.”
He then played a clip of President Trump responding to a question about how he was coping with Kirk’s death. Trump replied:
“I think very good, and by the way, right there you see all the trucks — they’ve just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”
As studio laughter faded, Kimmel joked about the president’s response:
“Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend.”
Kimmel tied the moment to broader concerns about political rhetoric and federal officials, including FBI Director Kash Patel and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. (Click here for the full monologue)
Tuesday, Sept. 16
One day before the suspension was announced, Kimmel again addressed Kirk’s death about six minutes into his monologue. Kimmel described the reaction as an attempt to capitalize on Kirk’s death: “Many in ‘MAGA land’ are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
He cited remarks from JD Vance and Eric Trump to illustrate how the killing was being used in partisan messaging.
“Yesterday, JD Vance, who himself famously called Donald Trump ‘America’s Hitler,’ hosted the Charlie Kirk podcast from the White House, where he pointed his little mascara-stained finger directly at the left,” Kimmel said before showing a clip from the podcast.
In the clip, Vance says:
“While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left.”
Kimmel disputed the claim and continued to poke fun at Vice President Vance. (Click here for the full Tuesday monologue)
Charlie Kirk, 31, an outspoken conservative activist, was assassinated by a sniper’s bullet during a Sept. 10 public forum at Utah Valley University. Prosecutors in Utah have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with murder and announced plans to seek the death penalty. A motive has not yet been definitively established.
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