By Li Zhou
Copyright huffingtonpost
ABC is yanking Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show off the air indefinitely in the wake of government threats following comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” a network spokesperson told HuffPost in a statement Wednesday.
On Monday’s show, Kimmel criticized the response to the killing from people on the right, a statement that’s drawn the ire of conservatives and threats of penalties from FCC Chair Brendan Carr.
“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,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
Earlier on Wednesday, while speaking in an interview with YouTuber Benny Johnson, Carr suggested that ABC and Disney should take action over Kimmel’s comments, and added that the FCC could penalise individual broadcasters that air the late night program.
The FCC can impose fines and review the licenses of individual broadcasters if the agency believes that they aren’t operating in the public interest, Carr said.
ABC’s announcement followed a statement from Nexstar Media Group, which said it would be pulling Kimmel’s program from affiliates that it operates over concerns about his Kirk comments.
“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,” Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said in a press release. “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.”
According to Variety, Nexstar’s actions come as it is also seeking FCC approval for a major merger it’s pursuing.
ABC’s decision is the latest to raise concerns about press freedom as Trump has called for the revocation of it and NBC’s licenses, and as he’s sued The New York Times over claims of defamation.
Trump, who’s previously attacked Kimmel, celebrated ABC’s move on Wednesday and urged NBC to similarly drop late night shows featuring Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.
“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”
