Jimmy Kimmel Live! Pulled by ABC ‘Indefinitely’ After Host’s Comments About Charlie Kirk

The decision comes a week after Kirk was fatally shot

NEED TO KNOW

Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been indefinitely pulled, an ABC spokesperson tells PEOPLE
The decision comes after he made comments about the death of Charlie Kirk
Kirk was fatally shot on Wednesday, Sept. 10

Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show has been indefinitely pulled.

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, it was announced that Disney’s ABC would be pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely, an ABC spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE.

The network’s decision follows Nexstar Media’s decision to preempt airings of the program. Nexstar Media is the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S. that owns more than 200 television stations in 116 markets.

Nexstar said in a statement to PEOPLE that its “owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show.”

The statement added that the company “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”

Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, elaborated on the decision in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “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.”

Alford continued, “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.”

The media company’s decision came two days after Kimmel mentioned Kirk in his monologue. Kirk was shot and killed during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. He was 31.

During Kimmel’s Monday, Sept. 15 monologue, he directly addressed President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” supporters, saying, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

PEOPLE reached out to representatives for Kimmel.

The news comes amid Kimmel’s ongoing feud with President Donald Trump, who predicted that the longtime ABC host would be the next late-night casualty after CBS canceled The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in July 2025.

Prior to Trump warning of a late-night exodus, Kimmel himself had repeatedly hinting at ending his show. He told the Los Angeles Times in February 2024 that the three-year contract he signed in 2022 would probably be his last, joking, “I hate to even say it, because everyone’s laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case.”

“I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good,” he added at the time. “That seems like enough.”

Kimmel, who has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003, has frequently found himself in the president’s crosshairs, whether for monologue jokes or jabs he took at Trump while hosting the Oscars.

Following The Late Show‘s cancellation, the president took to his Truth Social account, claiming, “The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, [Jimmy] Fallon will be gone.”

“These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television,” Trump wrote. “It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”

Kimmel expressed frustration of his own toward the president while on summer vacation with his family, sharing a photo of his family at an anti-Trump protest on July 17 with a pointed message.

“May every day be another wonderful secret,” Kimmel’s Instagram caption read, referencing a line from a cryptic letter that Trump allegedly wrote to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

In the photo, he and his wife, Live! co-head writer Molly McNearney, are pictured in anti-Trump shirts with their children, Jane and Billy. Each member of the family is holding a sign, with phrases including, “Don’t bend the knee,” “Make America Good Again,” and “I wish we had a better president!”

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When Kimmel learned of The Late Show‘s cancellation — which came three days after Colbert tore into his parent company, Paramount, for offering up $16 million to settle a lawsuit with the president — the ABC host took to Instagram Stories to stand up for his friend and late-night rival.

Reposting a clip from Colbert’s announcement, Kimmel wrote, “Love you Stephen.”

He then called out the network behind the decision, adding, “F— you and all your Sheldons, CBS,” seemingly referring to the network’s Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon series.

Back in 2022, Kimmel admitted that he’d previously considered quitting his late-night show if he wasn’t allowed to make fun of Trump.

“There was one time, right around the beginning of this whole Trump thing… maybe not quite [eight years ago],” Kimmel said on Stitcher’s Naked Lunch podcast. “I said, listen, I get it, you’re right. I have lost half of my fanbase, maybe more. Ten years ago, among Republicans, I was the most popular talk show. At least, according to the research they did.”

“I get it if [blocking Trump jokes is] what they want to do,” Kimmel continued. “I said, ‘If that’s what you want to do, I don’t begrudge you for it, but I’m not going to do that. If you want someone else to host the show, that’s fine with me. I’m just not going to do it like that.’ “