Overview

Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC Suspension, also known as Jimmy Kimmel Pulled Off-Air Over Charlie Kirk Comments, refers to Disney's ABC late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! and its host, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, being pulled indefinitely off-air over a remark that Kimmel made about the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk and the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, in mid-September 2025. Kimmel attacked U.S. President Donald Trump's MAGA base in the monologue, saying, "The MAGA gang [is] 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." Disney's decision to pull Kimmel and his show came after comments made by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on conservative pundit Benny Johnson's show. Chairman Carr said that Kimmel appeared to "mislead" the public with the comment, as reporting prior to the episode alluded to the shooter purportedly having left-wing ideologies. Soon after, the company Nexstar decided to preempt the show for the foreseeable future from its ABC affiliate stations around the country. The controversy sparked viral reactions, discourse and memes on social media sites like Twitter / X and Reddit, among others, in the following days. Some internet users and fellow comedians believed that Kimmel was wrongfully terminated, as expressed in viral posts. Others believed that Kimmel's firing was justified.

On September 23rd, 2025, Jimmy Kimmel Live! officially went back on air as ABC and Disney executives ended the suspension of the show and reinstated it. However, Sinclair and Nexstar kept the show off their affiliate stations.

Background

On September 16th, 2025, X^[2] user @alexchristy17 posted a clip from the most recent airing of the ABC late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! in which host Jimmy Kimmel made some comments during his monologue about Charlie Kirk's assassination and the suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson.

He 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 video received over 15.2 million views in two days. At the time, reports and claims that Robinson held left-wing stances were widely circulated in the media from a range of sources.^[16][17][18]

Jimmy Kimmel claims "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" and "This is not how an adult… pic.twitter.com/KMhnskaYWD

— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 16, 2025

On September 17th, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr appeared on The Benny Show, hosted by conservative pundit Benny Johnson, in which he suggested that licensed broadcasters should decide not to run shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live! and put pressure on Disney and Comcast, because the FCC could take action against shows that do "news distortion."^[3]

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr: "There's actions we can take on licensed broadcasters. It's long past the time that…Comcast and Disney say 'We're not gonna run Kimmel anymore…because we licensed broadcasters are running the possibly of fines or licensed revocation from the FCC.'" pic.twitter.com/L2GK7w1p9J

— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) September 17, 2025

Later on September 17th, 2025, Nexstar^[1] shared a press release, announcing that the company was going to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its ABC affiliate stations, citing, "Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk."

That same day, Disney announced that it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! "indefinitely" from ABC, according to reports from outlets like NBC News.^[4]

Online Reactions

News of Disney's decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely quickly spread on social media on September 17th, 2025.

For instance, many internet users began quote-tweeting a 2017 tweet from Charlie Kirk that read, "Jimmy Kimmel isn't funny." Benny Johnson was one of the users who quoted it on X^[5] that day, writing, "We did it for you, Charlie. And we’re just getting started…" gaining over 93,000 likes in a day.

Others believed that the decision to indefinitely pull Jimmy Kimmel's show over the comment was the start of authoritarian rule by President Donald Trump's White House.

For instance, on September 17th, X^[6] user @MikeBeauvais expressed the concern comedically by showing a North Korean anchorwoman from a state-owned news station representing fellow late-night show host Jimmy Fallon following Kimmel's removal. The tweet received over 74,000 likes in a day.

On September 17th, 2025, X^[7] user @KrangTNelson quote-tweeted a post about the news, writing, "One thing I really hate about the Trump era is how you kinda have to get upset about the stupidest shit. Like fuck this is a gross assault on free speech and art in this country, but also it's Jimmy Kimmel. You're making me defend Jimmy fucking Kimmel. It's all just so undignified." The post gained over 133,000 likes in a day.

The initial news also went viral on Reddit when it was posted to several subreddits on September 17th. For instance, Redditor esporx shared it to the /r/popculturechat^[8] subreddit on that day, gaining over 13,000 upvotes and 1,400 comments in a day.

One of the top comments was shared by Redditor^[9] Super_Hour_3836, who wrote, "They have come for the bland white men. Y'all fucked," gaining over 4,700 upvotes in a day.

Fellow comedians also came forward with social media posts about Jimmy Kimmel's indefinite suspension in mid-September 2025.

For example, stand-up comedian Mike Birbiglia shared an Instagram^[10] post on September 17th, showing a hand-written note that read, "I've spent a lot of time in public and private defending comedians I don't agree with. 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." The post received over 77,400 likes in a day.

Calls to boycott Disney also surfaced online in the wake of the announcement. For instance, on September 17th, 2025, X^[11] user @Matthewtravis08 tweeted, "Trump told Disney to cancel Jimmy Kimmel. So Disney bent at the knee and canceled Kimmel. Maybe it’s time for Democrats and Liberals to cancel Disney?" The tweet received over 7,600 likes in a day.

Also on September 17th, CNN media analyst Brian Stelter posted on X^[19] that in response to his request for comment from FCC Chairman Carr about Kimmel being pulled off-air, Carr sent a GIF from The Office showing characters celebrating. The tweet received over 7.1 million views, 21,000 likes, 5,500 retweets and 7,900 replies in 20 hours.

I asked FCC chair @BrendanCarrFCC if he had any new comment now that ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel's show, and he sent me this GIF pic.twitter.com/ljz60FzHN4

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 17, 2025

Developments

Erika Kirk ABC Lawsuit Hoax

On September 16th, 2025, the Facebook^[12] page America's Last Line Of Defense shared a post that spread misinformation that Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, was filing a $40 million defamation lawsuit against ABC. The post received over 43,000 reactions in two days.

The post was reposted by X^[13] user @mcafeenew on September 16th, where it gained over 24,000 likes in two days. It also received a Community Note ^[14] that fact-checked it and revealed that it was fake news.

Sinclair Replaces Jimmy Kimmel Live! With Charlie Kirk Tribute

On September 17th, 2025, reports from outlets like Variety^[15] shared news that Sinclair, another ABC affiliate owner, was set to air a Charlie Kirk tribute on its ABC affiliate stations in place of the September 19th Jimmy Kimmel Live! timeslot.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! Back On Air

On September 22nd, 2025, Disney, ABC's parent company, released a statement to several news outlets like USA TODAY,^[21] announcing that the company had come to the decision to reinstate Jimmy Kimmel Live! with the next episode airing on September 23rd. However, Sinclair and Nexstar decided to keep the show off its affiliate stations, according to the New York Times.^[20]

On September 23rd, Jimmy Kimmel Live! aired on ABC.^[20] Kimmel delivered a monologue that addressed the situation. It was posted to YouTube^[22] on that same day, receiving over 14 million views in a day.

Kimmel's return sparked viral posts and discourse on social media. For instance, on September 23rd, 2025, X^[23] user @gazpachomachine tweeted a photo of himself watching Jimmy Kimmel's monologue with a bottle of Tylenol, related to the Tylenol Autism Announcement. It was captioned, "Watching Kimmel's return and popping ty's all night… this is how we fight back," and it received over 48,000 likes in a day.

Also on September 23rd, President Trump shared a post on Truth Social^[24] that reacted to Kimmel's return, reading, "I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!" The post received over 35,800 likes in a day.

Search Interest

External References