Comments made by Jimmy Kimmel (pictured in 2020) about Charlie Kirk’s alleged shooter during his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show on Monday caused Disney and ABC to indefinitely suspend his television show on Wednesday. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel’s recent comments about the Charlie Kirk’s accused shooter prompted the network to indefinitely halt his show on Wednesday amid blowback.
Kimmel opened his show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, on Monday night by suggesting alleged Kirk murderer Tyler Robinson is a pro-Trump Republican.
“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 told his audience, as reported by NBC News.
His comments caused Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to threaten action against ABC and its owner, Disney, according to The New York Times.
Carr raised the matter while being interviewed on a podcast on Wednesday.
Officials for the Nexstar Media Group also announced they are pre-empting Kimmel’s show due to his comments.
“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, in a news release on Wednesday.
“We do not believe [Kimmel’s comments] reflect the spectrum of opinions, views or values of the local communities in which we are located,” 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,” Alford continued.
“We have made the difficult decision to pre-empt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”
Nexstar describes itself as “America’s largest local television broadcasting group” with more than 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets that reach 220 million people.
Utah County (Utah) prosecutors on Tuesday charged Robinson with capital murder and related crimes for allegedly shooting and killing Kirk during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and prosecutors have described Robinson as indoctrinated in “far-left” ideology and said he was in a romantic relationship with his roommate, who is transitioning from male to female.
Cox confirmed Robinson’s parents are conservatives but said Robinson does not share his parent’s political views.
