ABC has taken late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off air indefinitely following remarks he made about the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” a spokesperson for the Disney-owned broadcaster said in a statement.
Earlier this week, during his show, Kimmel said the “Maga gang” was attempting to exploit Kirk’s death for political advantage.
President Donald Trump welcomed the decision, calling it “great news for America.”
In his Monday night monologue, Kimmel said: “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.”
He also criticised flags lowered to half-mast in Kirk’s honour and mocked Trump’s reaction to the shooting.
“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, continuing his regular jabs at the former president.
On the day of the attack, Kimmel posted on Instagram condemning the violence and sending “love” to Kirk’s family.
A 22-year-old suspect has since appeared in court charged with aggravated murder.
Shortly after ABC confirmed Kimmel’s suspension, Trump wrote on social media: “The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
Kimmel later left the studio on Hollywood Boulevard wearing a flannel shirt and cap, departing by car without comment.
Audience members waiting to enter the taping expressed disappointment.
Janna Blackwell, visiting from Virginia, told the BBC: “You know, this is getting ridiculous and stupid.”
“Freedom of speech. He shared his opinion and is being cancelled. To me that is bizarre.”
A small protest also gathered outside the studio with a sign declaring “Trump must go now.”
The announcement came shortly after Nexstar Media, one of the largest station owners in the United States, said it would not broadcast Jimmy Kimmel Live! “for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight’s show.”
Nexstar said Kimmel’s remarks about Kirk were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”
“[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.
Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), thanked Nexstar “for doing the right thing” and urged other broadcasters to follow. Nexstar is currently seeking FCC approval for a $6.2bn merger with Tegna.
Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the US, also pulled the show and announced it would air a remembrance programme for Kirk in Kimmel’s time slot.
Carr, a Trump appointee, had earlier condemned Kimmel’s comments, describing them as “the sickest conduct possible” and urging Disney to intervene.
“[Broadcasters] have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr said on the conservative Benny Show podcast.
He suggested an apology from Kimmel would be a “very reasonable, minimal step.”
But Anna Gomez, the FCC’s only Democrat commissioner, criticised Carr’s stance.
She wrote on X: “An inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship or control.”
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) condemned the suspension, calling it an attack on constitutional free speech rights.
“Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth,” it said in a statement.
Sag-Aftra, another Hollywood union, described the move as “the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms.”
A source familiar with the matter told CNBC that Kimmel had not been fired and that network bosses planned to speak with him about what he should say upon returning.
The controversy comes as network talk shows struggle to keep audiences in the streaming era.
In July, CBS announced it would end The Late Show with Stephen Colbert next year after 11 seasons. The network said the decision was unrelated to ratings or political factors.
Colbert, however, blasted CBS and its parent company, accusing executives of leaking financial information and pointing to a $16m settlement with Trump after a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris.
That settlement followed another payout: Disney-owned ABC agreed to pay Trump $15m after anchor George Stephanopoulos falsely claimed during an interview that the president had been found “liable for rape.”
A jury in a civil case had in fact determined Trump was liable for “sexual abuse,” a legally distinct charge under New York law.
