Jimmy Kimmel Live! pulled off air ‘indefinitely’ after Charlie Kirk comments, ABC confirms

Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been taken off air “indefinitely” after the host made controversial comments about Charlie Kirk and US President Donald Trump after the prominent MAGA figure was assassinated in Utah.

Kirk died after being shot at a speaking event at Utah Valley University campus.

Following his assassination, which authorities believe was politically motivated, a manhunt for a suspect was launched, which led to the arrest of Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old man from Utah.

SEE DONALD TRUMP’S RESPONSE BELOW

Kimmel, during an episode’s opening monologue, suggested that Mr Robinson was “MAGA”.

In Monday night’s edition of the ABC show, Kimmel said: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid (Tyler Robinson) 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 criticise Mr Trump’s response to Kirk’s death, saying the US President was acting like “a four-year-old”.

Following the assassination, Mr Trump ordered flags to be flown at half mast in honour of the Turning Point USA founder’s death, also announcing that he would award Kirk posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?” Kimmel said.

Outrage was quick, and ABC, which is owned by Disney, pulled Kimmel’s show on Wednesday evening.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesman told NBC News on Wednesday.

Donald Trump responds to Jimmy Kimmel axing

Mr Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate the “great news” of Kimmel being pulled off air.

“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” Mr 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 (Fallon) and Seth (Meyers), two total losers, on Fake News NBC.

“Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

Nexstar Media Group, an affiliate network that owns stations that aired Jimmy Kimmel Live!, pulled the show off their channels first, before Disney’s ABC followed.

“Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), today announced that the company’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,” the group said in a statement.

“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.

President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, Andrew Alford, said: “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.

“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.”

Following Kirk’s assassination, Kimmel took to Instagram to call out the shooting.

“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” Kimmel wrote on Instagram.

“On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

Kimmel has not apologised for his comments and is yet to comment on Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled off air.

More to come...