Disney ’s (NYSE:DIS) ABC said on Wednesday it will take late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air “indefinitely” amid objections to comments made by the host about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
ABC’s move came hours after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said in a conservative podcast that Kimmel’s comments made a “strong case” for action against ABC and Disney, calling them “truly sick.” Carr threatened to revoke ABC’s broadcasting licenses.
Nextstar Media Group, the country’s biggest television station owner, also said on Wednesday that it will stop airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its affiliate stations “for the foreseeable future” over Kimmel’s comments.
Nextstar is currently seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 billion takeover of peer Tegna Inc (NYSE:TGNA).
Later on Wednesday, network station operator Sinclair, which is ABC’s largest affiliate station group, said Kimmel’s suspension was not enough, and called on the FCC and ABC to take "additional action."
Sinclair said it will not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! regardless of ABC’s plans for the show.
Kimmel, during the opening monologue for Monday’s show, suggested that Tyler Robinson– who was accused of fatally shooting Kirk at a Utah university last week, was aligned with President Donald Trump’s conservative Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
“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,” Kimmel said.
“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving,” Kimmel said, while also joking about Trump’s apparent lack of grief over Kirk’s killing during an interview at the White House.
"This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish," Kimmel said.
Kirk, 31, was fatally shot through the neck on September 10, during an address at the Utah Valley University. Two days later, authorities arrested 22-year-old Tyler James Robinson, who was subsequently charged with murder.
Prosecutors also announced they would seek the death penalty for Robinson, claiming that the attack was politically motivated.
Trump and his allies had largely blamed their political opponents for the attack, claiming that the left’s rhetoric incited violence.
The president has repeatedly sued and berated media companies and news agencies whose coverage he disagrees with. Trump earlier this week said he was suing the New York Times for $15 billion in a defamation suit.
Trump on Wednesday called Kimmel’s cancellation “great news for America,” in a social media post.
Trump called on NBC to cancel talk shows hosted by Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers. CBS had earlier this year cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
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