ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel Live! Over Host's Charlie Kirk Monologue

ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! pursuing comments its titular big made during his Monday nighttime monologue astir the decease of blimpish activistic and podcaster Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated past week successful Utah during a nationalist statement appearance.

The web has pre-empted Kimmel’s amusement “indefinitely” aft Nexstar, which owns 28 ABC affiliate stations crossed the United States, “said it volition pre-empt the bid for the contiguous future,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

THR adds that determination were rumblings that different TV groups were taking contented with Kimmel’s comments and that ABC feared “an affiliate revolt.”

In his monologue during Monday's episode, Kimmel said: “We deed immoderate caller lows implicit the play with the MAGA pack desperately trying to qualify this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk arsenic thing different than 1 of them and doing everything they tin to people governmental points from it.”

Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, issued the pursuing connection Wednesday to denote the company’s determination to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live!:

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments astir the decease of Mr. Kirk are violative and insensitive astatine a captious clip successful our nationalist governmental discourse, and we bash not judge they bespeak the spectrum of opinions, views, oregon values of the section communities successful which we are located. …

Continuing to springiness Mr. Kimmel a broadcast level successful the communities we service is simply not successful the nationalist involvement astatine the existent time, and we person made the hard determination to preempt his amusement successful an effort to fto cooler heads prevail arsenic we determination toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”

Kimmel’s comments besides sparked the ire of Federal Communications Commission seat Brendan Carr, a Trump Administration appointee who suggested connected a podcast that the broadcast licenses of ABC and its affiliates could perchance beryllium revoked implicit the matter.

THR points retired that Nexstar’s determination to pre-empt Kimmel’s amusement “comes arsenic the broadcast presumption is seeking FCC support for its $6.2 cardinal mega woody to get TEGNA.”

The Kimmel show’s suspension comes connected the heels of Comedy Central pulling a planned repetition of a caller South Park occurrence that parodied Charlie Kirk but that aired earlier his murder.

Editor's note: The archetypal mentation of this nonfiction mistakenly said Kimmel's comments were made connected the Tuesday broadcast. They were made during Monday's episode. We regret the error.