By Emily Kaine

Copyright brisbanetimes

Walt Disney-owned ABC said it would indefinitely stop airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! after remarks the late-night host made on-air about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

“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,” the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division Andrew Alford 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, 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.”

“Nexstar 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,” said the statement from Nextstar Media Group.

The offending comments were made by Kimmel on air two nights ago during his opening monologue: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise 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 went on to say, “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”

Tonight’s show will not be aired, and will be replaced by other ABC programs for the foreseeable future.