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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
ABC yanks Jimmy Kimmel’s show ‘indefinitely’ after threat from
Trump’s FCC chair
By Brian Stelter, Elizabeth Wagmeister, Liam Reilly, CNN
Updated:
5:21 AM EDT, Thu September 18, 2025
Source: CNN
Disney’s ABC is taking Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show off the
air indefinitely amid a controversy over his recent comments about
Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC
spokesperson said, declining to share any further details.
A representative for Kimmel did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
The stunning decision came just a few hours after the Trump
administration official responsible for licensing ABC’s local
stations publicly pressured the company to punish Kimmel.
At least two major owners of ABC-affiliated stations subsequently said
they would preempt Kimmel’s show, sparking speculation that the
owners were trying to curry favor with the administration. The local
media conglomerates are each seeking mergers that would require
administration approval.
As Kimmel prepared to tape Wednesday night’s episode in Hollywood,
ABC decided to pull the plug, much to the astonishment of the
entertainment industry.
Free speech and free expression groups immediately condemned ABC,
calling the suspension cowardly, while President Trump, who frequently
sparred with Kimmel, celebrated all the way from the UK, where he is on
a state visit.
“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had
to be done,” Trump wrote in on his Truth Social platform. “That
leaves Jimmy (Fallon) and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC.
Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”
The indefinite hiatus underscores how politicized opinions and comments
around the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk have become,
with urging employers to fire people who make comments perceived as
unflattering about Kirk.
And the president has also gone after media companies, specifically,
when they displease him, as with a $15 billion defamation lawsuit this
week and lawsuits against other outlets.
Kimmel’s comments — and the fallout
During his Monday evening monologue, Kimmel said the MAGA movement was
trying to score political points by trying to prove that Kirk’s
alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, was not one of its own.
“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 said.
“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
The ABC late-night host’s remarks constituted “the sickest conduct
possible,” FCC chair Brendan Carr Benny Johnson on Wednesday. Carr
suggested his FCC could move to revoke ABC affiliate licenses as a way
to force Disney to punish Kimmel.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These
companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel,
or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
And speaking on Fox Wednesday night, Carr suggested broadcasters would
see more of this kind of pressure in the future.
“We at the FCC are going to force the public interest obligation.
There are broadcasters out there that don’t like it, they can turn in
their license in to the FCC,” Carr said. “But that’s our job.
Again, we’re making some progress now.”
But Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner at the FCC, that while
“an inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual
must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship and
control,” the Trump administration “is increasingly using the
weight of government power to suppress lawful expression.”
Speaking with CNN’s Erin Burnett after Kimmel’s show was taken off
the air, Gomez said “the First Amendment does not allow us, the FCC,
to tell broadcasters what they can broadcast.”
“I saw the clip. He did not make any unfounded claims, but he did
make a joke, one that others may even find crude, but that is neither
illegal nor grounds for companies to capitulate to this administration
in ways that violate the First Amendment,” Gomez told CNN. “This
sets a dangerous new precedent, and companies must stand firm against
any efforts to trade away First Amendment freedom.”
Pro-Trump websites and TV shows began to criticize Kimmel for his
remarks on Tuesday, and as the story gained traction on Wednesday, some
owners of ABC-affiliated stations felt compelled to speak out.
Local broadcasters get involved
Nexstar, which operates about two dozen ABC affiliates, issued a press
release saying it “strongly objects” to Kimmel’s remarks and
saying its stations would “replace the show with other programming in
its ABC-affiliated markets.”
Notably, Nexstar is seeking Trump administration approval to . The deal
requires the FCC to loosen the government’s limits on broadcast
station ownership.
Minutes after Nexstar criticized Kimmel publicly, ABC said the show was
being yanked nationwide.
Later in the evening, another big station group, Sinclair, said it had
also told ABC that it was preempting Kimmel’s show on its
ABC-affiliated stations before the network announced its nationwide
decision.
Sinclair, too, has business pending before the Trump administration,
and it made a bid for Tegna a day before Nexstar stepped in with its
bid. The company announced Wednesday night that it will air a
one-hour special tribute to Kirk on Friday night in Kimmel’s usual
time slot.
Following ABC’s action to indefinitely pull Kimmel’s show off the
air, Sinclair issued a saying the late-night host’s suspension “is
not enough” and called on the network, the FCC and Kimmel to go
further.
“Sinclair will not lift the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on our
stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the
network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability,” the
company said in its statement. “Regardless of ABC’s plans for the
future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return Jimmy Kimmel
Live! to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have
been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast
platform.”
Sinclair said it demanded Kimmel directly apologize to the Kirk family
and make a “meaningful” donation to Kirk’s family and his
organization, Turning Point USA.
The FCC’s role
The FCC regulates the public airwaves, including broadcast signals and
content. Before Trump appointed Carr to lead the agency, the FCC, for
the most part, had taken a hands-off approach to broadcasters’
political content in recent years.
But Carr has taken a broader view of the FCC’s remit to serve the
public interest, and has served as a political attack dog for Trump,
threatening his perceived enemies in the broadcast media.
“I can’t imagine another time when we’ve had local broadcasters
tell a national programmer like Disney that your content no longer
meets the needs and the values of our community,” Carr told Fox
News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday. “So this is an important turning
point.”
The Center for American Rights, which has previously lodged bias
complaints against NBC, ABC and CBS, on Wednesday filed a complaint
with the FCC over Kimmel’s comments, writing that “it is no defense
to say that Kimmel was engaging in satire or late-night comedy rather
than traditional news.”
“ABC’s affiliates need to step up and hold ABC accountable as a
network for passing through material that fails to respect the
public-interest standard to which they are held,” Daniel Suhr,
president of the Center for American Rights, wrote in the complaint.
“Disney as ABC’s corporate owner needs to act directly to correct
this problem.”
SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, said Wednesday night that it
“condemns” the suspension of Kimmel’s show.
“Our society depends on freedom of expression. Suppression of free
speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public
concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on,” the
union said in its statement.
“The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of
suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms.”
Kimmel has also been a frequent target of President Trump’s ire.
Shortly after CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s
late-night talk show — a move — Trump that “Next up will be an
even less talented Jimmy Kimmel.”
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