By Divya Singh Rana

Copyright sportskeeda

American commentator Benny Johnson recently weighed in on the situation concerning Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show being suspended following the comedian’s comment on MAGA and Charlie Kirk’s assassination. He claimed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taken off the air due to disappointing viewership numbers, and not solely because of his comment on Kirk’s demise.On September 19, 2025, Benny wrote on X:”Local ABC affiliates are calling me nonstop to share just how dead Kimmel’s show really was…. The numbers were worse than anyone realized. Viewership was nonexistent, ads wouldn’t sell, and stations were fed up with being forced to air it. It was set to collapse at any moment, we just gave them the push they needed.”He continued:”Nexstar, Sinclair, and others finally said enough. They refused to serve content their communities reject. This is how the we win: identify leverage, apply pressure, and force results.”On September 20, 2025, Benny Johnson posted another tweet claiming Kimmel’s show was taken off the air “because America rejected him.”Johnson repeated his claim that affiliate owners were calling him regarding the collapsed ratings of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, adding that the show’s viewers were less than reported and advertisers bailed on the same.”After Charlie Kirk was assassinated, Kimmel chose mockery over decency. That was the final straw. And now he’s finished. This isn’t about red vs. blue or black vs. white, this is about good vs. evil,” Johnson wrote.Benny Johnson @bennyjohnsonLINKThank you Kevin Corke for having me on your Fox News show last night. Jimmy Kimmel was taken off air because America rejected him. Affiliate owners have been calling me off the hook telling me his ratings collapsed, all advertisers bailed, and viewers were even less thanMore details about Jimmy Kimmel’s show getting suspended from ABC explored amid Benny Johnson’s claimsThe uproar that led to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show stemmed from a comment the comedian made during an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! following Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Suspecting that Kirk’s assassin, Tyler Robinson, was a MAGA Republican, Kimmel said:“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.”The comment led to Kimmel receiving backlash from MAGA supporters, including Benny Johnson, who took to X on September 18, 2025, claiming that Kimmel lied about Charlie Kirk’s assassination and mocked the late political activist on air. Adding that “the line was crossed”, Johnson thanked the FCC’s pressure, as well as Nexstar and Sinclair for pulling Kimmel’s show off the air.He added that Jimmy Kimmel was “finished” and that he would “never recover. This isn’t cancel culture. This is CONSEQUENCE culture,” the political commentator wrote.Benny Johnson @bennyjohnsonLINKJimmy Kimmel lied about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, blamed him for his own murder, and mocked him on air. The line was crossed. Thanks to FCC pressure and Nexstar and Sinclair pulling him from millions of homes, his platform is destroyed. He’s finished. Will never recover.Moreover, Benny Johnson’s mention of the FCC was a reference to the Federal Communications Commission’s chairman, Brendan Carr, who was one of the prominent influences in suspending Kimmel’s show.As reported by NPR, on September 17, 2025, Carr told Benny Johnson:”We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”Brendan Carr’s statement on Johnson’s podcast led to Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group weighing in on the situation. For the unversed, the broadcast groups own multiple ABC affiliate television stations. Eventually, the outcome was that Jimmy Kimmel’s show was preempted from ABC.According to NPR’s report dated September 19, 2025, Nexstar and Sinclair, and ABC’s corporate owner, the Walt Disney Co., have pending deals that require approval by the FCC. This is one of the reasons for the swift suspension of Kimmel’s show.