Jimmy Kimmel was seen in Los Angeles after his late-night show on ABC was paused “indefinitely” following comments he made about the recent death of Charlie Kirk.
Photos from Thursday, Sept. 18 show the 57-year-old Jimmy Kimmel Live! host leaving a car in Los Angeles, less than a day after Nexstar announced that its ABC-affiliated stations “will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show.” Sinclair later did the same, and ABC removed the show from its nationwide schedule.
Kimmel wore sunglasses and dark clothing as he stepped out of the car.
Several celebrities spoke out in support of Kimmel. Stephen Colbert called the show’s removal a form of “blatant censorship.” The comedian, whose Late Show was canceled by CBS in July, said, “With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch… Jimmy, I stand with you and your staff 100%.”
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ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, Sept. 17, two days after Kimmel commented on Kirk during the Sept. 15 episode. Kirk, 31, was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
Kimmel said on Monday, “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.”
He also compared President Donald Trump’s grieving process to “how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
During the segment, a clip showed Trump being asked how he was holding up after his “friend” was killed. Trump responded, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”
Trump, who was on a state visit to the U.K. when the show was pulled, said, “Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about a great man named Charlie Kirk.”
He added, “Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person, he had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. You can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”
Trump also said licensed networks “are not allowed” to attack him because they give him “wholly bad publicity.”
He said, “I mean they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. When you have a network and you have evening shows and all they do is hit Trump, that’s all they do.”
Trump also mentioned that the decision would be up to Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, calling him “outstanding,” “a patriot,” and “a tough guy.”
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Carr later said his agency is “not done yet” making changes to the “media ecosystem.”
Nexstar recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, which would give Nexstar access to 80% of America’s TV-owning households, according to a press release. The deal requires final approval from the Trump-controlled FCC.
Carr praised Nexstar on X for pressuring ABC to remove Kimmel, saying “it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”
