Jimmy Kimmel taken off air over fear of retaliation from Trump? Shocking claims surface
In the hours leading up to ABC’s decision to pull late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off air indefinitely over his comments about slain Charlie Kirk, two sources familiar with the matter told Rolling Stone that senior executives at ABC, its owner Disney, and affiliates held emergency meetings to try and figure out how to minimize the damage. Several execs believe that Kimmel said nothing over the line, but Kimmel was suspended due to the threat of the Trump administration, according to the sources.
Jimmy Kimmel taken off air over fear of retaliation from Trump? Shocking claims surface (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP)(AFP)
“They were pissing themselves all day,” one ABC insider told Rolling Stone.
Brendan Carr, Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman, urged licensed broadcasters on Wednesday, September 17, to stop airing Kimmel’s show. “I think that it’s really sort of past time that a lot of these licensed broadcasters themselves push back on Comcast and Disney and say, ‘Listen, we are going to preempt, we are not going to run Kimmel anymore, until you straighten this out because we, we licensed broadcaster, are running the possibility of fines or license revocation from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion,’” Carr said Wednesday, speaking with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson.
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President Donald Trump rejoiced on Truth Social after Kimmel’s suspension. “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” Trump wrote. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. 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!!!”
Jimmy Kimmel’s comments on the show
Kimmel said in his Monday night monologue, referencing Tyler Robinson, “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 also slammed the decision to flow flags at half mast in honour of Kirk. He mocked President Donald Trump for his reaction to the assassination.
“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” Kimmel said, poking fun at Trump.
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After the decision to stop the show was made, the company said in a statement, “Nexstar’s 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. 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.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone in April, Kimmel claimed that a lot of outrage is “manufactured.” “I think these liberals who’ve done such a good job of viciously attacking comedians are a big part of the reason why Trump is the president right now,” he had said.
