Jimmy Kimmel’s fellow late-night hosts on Thursday night addressed ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! over on-air comments he made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“Tonight, we are all Jimmy Kimmel,” Stephen Colbert said at the beginning of his Late Show monologue on CBS.
During his own monologue on Monday, Kimmel suggested that President Trump’s supporters were trying to “score political points” by portraying Kirk’s accused killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, as a left-wing radical.
ABC’s decision came after Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission chair, threatened to punish the network if it did not take action. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on a right-wing podcast on Wednesday afternoon.
“Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking WTF,” Jimmy Fallon said Thursday during his Tonight Show monologue on NBC. “To be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on — and no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, funny and loving guy. And I hope he comes back.”
On NBC’s Late Night, host Seth Meyers joked that anything negative he’s said about Trump is an AI-generated deepfake.
“I’ve always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president and even better golfer,” Meyers joked, before turning serious.
“It is a privilege and an honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend,“ he said. ”In the same way that it’s a privilege and honor to do this show every night.
“I wake up every day, I count my blessings that I live in a country that at least purports to value freedom of speech,” Meyers said. “We’re gonna keep doing our show the way we’ve always done it, with enthusiasm and integrity.”
He added: “This is a big moment in our democracy, and we must all stand up for the principles of free expression. There’s a reason free speech is in the very first amendment. It stands above all others.”https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZdGLJly6P7c?si=YNmC820kuhAitUqs
Colbert called Kimmel’s suspension “blatant censorship” and described the president as “an autocrat.”
“With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch, and if ABC thinks this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive,” Colbert said.
In July, CBS, which is owned by Paramount, announced that it would be ending its long-running late-night program next year. At the time, CBS said it was purely a “financial” decision and “not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount.” But critics accused the network of canceling the show to appease the Trump administration ahead of Paramount’s pending megamerger with Skydance.
Colbert linked Kimmel’s suspension to his own cancellation.
“This was part of a plan,” Colbert said. “How do I know that? Two months ago, when the president was tastefully celebrating my cancellation, he posted ‘Jimmy Kimmel is next to go.’”
Trump suggested on Thursday that Kimmel’s show was suspended for “bad ratings” and his “lack of talent” in addition to the remarks he made during Monday’s show.
“Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk,” Trump said during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in England.
“Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person,” the president continued. “He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. So you know, you can call that free speech or not, he was fired for lack of talent.”
ABC did not say that Kimmel has been fired, nor has it given a reason for taking the show off the air. “Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said in a brief statement to media outlets on Wednesday night.
Speaking later to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump suggested that the FCC should look into the licenses of networks and evening shows that criticize him.
“When you have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump. That’s all they do,” Trump said. “When you go back, take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.”
Barack Obama
Former President Barack Obama also addressed the Kimmel news on Thursday.
“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” Obama said on X, linking to articles about Kimmel and a Washington Post opinion columnist who said she was fired for posts she made about the Kirk shooting.
“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent,” Obama added. “And media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”
Wanda Sykes
Sykes, who was scheduled to be a guest on Kimmel’s show Wednesday night, reacted by criticizing Trump.
“He didn’t end the Ukraine war or solve Gaza within his first week,” Sykes said in an Instagram video. “But he did end freedom of speech within his first year. Hey, for those of you who pray, now’s the time to do it. Love you, Jimmy.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom
The Democratic governor and prominent Trump critic accused the Republican Party of censorship.
“Buying and controlling media platforms. Firing commentators. Canceling shows. These aren’t coincidences,” Newsom wrote on X. “It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous. The @GOP does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time.”
Vice President JD Vance
Vance mocked the suspension, suggesting Secretary of State Marco Rubio would take over for Kimmel.
Danica Patrick
The former NASCAR driver — a Trump supporter — celebrated the decision in an Instagram post.
“Human decency is coming back,” Patrick wrote. “Thank god.”
Marc Maron
The comedian and podcast host issued a stark warning to his TikTok followers.
“This is government censorship. This is the Trump administration coming after people who speak out against him,” Maron said. “This is the end of it. If you have any concern or belief in real freedom or the Constitution and free speech — this is it. This is the deciding moment. This is what authoritarianism looks like right now in this country. It’s happening.”
“Look, if they can come for Kimmel, they can come for anybody,” Maron added. “This is happening. It’s time to act, figure it out, find a way, come together. Push back. Because if this goes, it’s over.”
Sen. Chris Murphy
The message from Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, was just as dire.
“If you don’t raise your voices right now about the assault on free speech, about Donald Trump’s decision to, disgustingly, exploit the murder of Charlie Kirk so as to try to permanently render powerless and impotent those who politically oppose him, there may be no democracy to save a year from now,” Murphy said in a video posted to X. “This is a red alert moment.”
Jean Smart
The Emmy-winning Hacks star said she was “horrified” with ABC’s decision.
“What Jimmy said was FREE speech, not hate speech,” Smart wrote on Instagram. “People seem to only want to protect free speech when it suits THEIR agenda. Though I didn’t agree at ALL with Charlie Kirk; his shooting death sickened me; and should have sickened any decent human being. What is happening to our country?”
Former Vice President Mike Pence
Speaking at an event in New York City on Thursday, Pence was asked whether the FCC chairman’s comments put Kimmel’s First Amendment rights at risk.
“The First Amendment of the Constitution protects against government censorship of individuals. And we ought ever to be vigilant to ensure the right of every American to express their views without government interference or censorship,” Pence said. “The First Amendment, though, does not protect entertainers who say crass or thoughtless things as Jimmy Kimmel did in the wake of a national tragedy, and private employers have every right to dismiss employees, whether they are a television talk-show host or otherwise, if they violate the standards of that company.
“Now I would have preferred that the chairman of the FCC had not weighed in,” he added. “But I respect the right of the networks to make the decision.”
Adam Scott
The actor and Severance star called Kimmel’s suspension “absurd and frightening” in a post on Instagram.
Ben Stiller
The actor had a three-word reaction to Kimmel’s suspension.
Rosie O’Donnell
O’Donnell — whose long-running feud with Trump led her to move to Ireland after he won a second term in office — wrote on Instagram, “this is unacceptable,” denouncing “this fascist administration and corrupt corporate executives” for “bowing to the orange monster.”
She added: “america is no more.”
Mike Birbiglia
Birbiglia called on fellow comedians to speak out.
“I’ve spent a lot of time in public and private defending comedians I don’t agree with,” Birbiglia wrote in a handwritten note posted to Instagram. “If you’re a comedian and you don’t call out the insanity of pulling Kimmel off the air — don’t bother spouting off about free speech anymore.”
David Letterman
Speaking at the Atlantic Festival on Thursday, the former Late Night with David Letterman host called the decision to pull Kimmel off the air “ridiculous.”
“You can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office, that’s just not how this works,” Letterman said. He said that he made jokes about six presidents on his talk show and received no pushback from any government agency or “the dreaded FCC.”
“This guy [at] the FCC said, ‘We can do things the easy way. We can do things the hard way.’ Who is hiring these goons? Mario Puzo?” he joked.
Sophia Bush
The former One Tree Hill actress took to her Instagram story on Wednesday to express her feelings about Kimmel’s firing, writing that it’s considered “free speech for the Trumps to make fun of Paul Pelosi’s attempted murder” but “god forbid someone acknowledge where the latest lunatic grew up and that he was raised around assault weapons,” referring to Kimmel’s words on Kirk’s killer.
In a follow-up message, she accused certain people on the right of only condemning violence when it affects “their people,” noting the lack of concern after Melissa Hortman, the leader of the state House Democratic Caucus, was killed alongside her husband, Mark, in June.
“Their anchors called for the forced euthanization of the homeless, while the ones you accuse of being leftists have asked for social support programs that reduce homelessness,” Bush continued, referring to controversial comments Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade made earlier this month and later apologized for. “Stop acting like the arguments are the same. And stop acting like the fringe represents all of us as all of any of us. This is atrocious.”
Henry Winkler
In a Wednesday post on X, the Happy Days alum wrote, “@jimmykimmel his humor, his insights are important to keep showing us who we are. AND he is a most wonderful fellow.”
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America released a statement on Wednesday supporting Kimmel and his writing staff after his show was pulled, calling it a violation of free speech. The Guild said, “the right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other — to disturb, even — is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people,” and criticized both government officials and media companies for silencing dissent. “Our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world,” the WGA stated before concluding that it “stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.”
Maren Morris
Country singer Morris took to her Instagram story to share a clip of herself hosting the Kimmel show, writing that she stands with the late night host. “Satire. humor. truth are constitutional.”
Meghann Fahy
The White Lotus and Sirens actress shared a photo of her and Kimmel on his talk show with the message “I love you @jimmykimmellive.”
Former Vice President Kamala Harris
In a post on social media, the former VP alluded to the Kimmel situation, calling it an “outright abuse of power.”
“This administration is attacking critics and using fear as a weapon to silence anyone who would speak out. Media corporations — from television networks to newspapers — are capitulating to these threats,” she wrote. “We cannot dare to be silent or complacent in the face of this frontal assault on free speech. We, the People, deserve better.”
Viola Davis
“My heart continues to be broken every day,” the Oscar winner began an Instagram post featuring a photo of herself and Kimmel. “It’s like we used to say back in the day, with spit and a heartfelt handshake: ‘Let’s just squelch it.’ We need to find a way back to each other… if not with spit and a handshake… with grace.”
“Love you @JimmyKimmel,” she continued. “You’ve been beyond kind to me. I will no longer join the cacophony of the world. I’m ‘squelching it.'”
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