Jimmy Kimmel show taken off air ‘indefinitely’ over Charlie Kirk comments as Trump calls it ‘great news’: Latest

Former Late Show executive producer Rob Burnett spoke to CNN about the ousting of Jimmy Kimmel from ABC’s late-night schedule.

He said: “The administration won’t stop its bullying, so it is time to hold the kowtowing companies accountable. I’m canceling my Disney subscription unless and until Jimmy is back in the air.”

Former President Barack Obama has weighed in on Jimmy Kimmel’s indefinite ousting from late-night schedules by Disney’s ABC in response to his comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

Obama shared an article from Vox, which reported that the Trump administration had threatened Disney with the weaponization of regulatory powers because they were displeased with Kimmel’s comments.

The former president wrote: “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.”

He added, along with reporting by The New York Times about the firing of a Washington Post columnist over her comments regarding Kirk’s death: “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”

Longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove slammed those looking to politicize the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, stating that using it to justify retaliation against political rivals is “wrong and dangerous.”

Conservatives have been pointing fingers at liberals ever since Kirk, 31, was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University last week. Authorities have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with the killing, without indicating anyone else was involved.

During a press conference with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, President Donald Trump spoke about Charlie Kirk.

“Just last week, a great American, Charlie Kirk, was heinously assassinated for speaking his mind… I appreciate the many British citizens who have offered their condolences,” Trump said.

The president further recalled: “I told him, I said, ‘’Charlie, I think you have a good shot at someday being president.’”

Utah Valley University, where Charlie Kirk was shot and killed last week, will host a “Vigil for Unity” on Friday.

No bags of any kind will be allowed.

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr appeared on CNBC this morning and was grilled about his role in ABC’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel from broadcast following his comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

CNBC anchor David Faber asked Carr whether he played a role beyond his public comments about Kimmel on a podcast in which he said “we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” or “there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

“There’s a much bigger shakeup that’s underway right now,” said Carr. “Ever since President Trump won the election, it’s created a permission structure for markets — including the media market — to rationalize. If you look at the ratings for late-night TV, they’ve been in an absolute nosedive for years, but for some reason these companies felt that they needed to subsidize it, and I think that’s ending.”

He argued that local stations, led by Nexstar, were pushing back on content created by national programmers such as Disney in response to their specific audiences, and this was part of a wider market trend.

Faber compared Kimmel to legendary late-night host Johnny Carson, underlining the point that this was a comedy show and not the news, and all such hosts have made fun of whichever administration was in power.

“Jimmy Kimmel is no Johnny Carson,” said Carr, before saying that Kimmel had deliberately misled the public about the events surrounding Kirk’s death.

Faber then asked whether the FCC was only targeting comedians who had offended President Donald Trump.

Carr responded that broadcast TV is different, noting that CNBC is cable and, similar to podcasts and other media, does not have an obligation to serve the public interest and does not operate under an FCC license. He added that Kimmel is free to be on other content platforms.

The FCC chairman again framed the decision as a pushback from local broadcasters against the might of the large content creators such as Disney.

Asked by CNBC presenter Jim Cramer about reporting by The New York Times that Sinclair, which owns a number of other TV stations, had called on Kimmel to make a donation to Kirk’s political group, Turning Point USA, Carr said Sinclair has “every right” to demand that.”

Network ABC revealed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would not be broadcast “indefinitely” after the host made controversial implications about the identity of Tyler Robinson, the suspected gunman behind the killing of the conservative activist.

Jacob Stolworthy explains why what Kimmel said landed him in hot water.

A bomb squad has been called in to Turning Point USA’s headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, after a “suspicious bag” was left outside ahead of organization founder Charlie Kirk’s funeral.

The large suitcase was found outside the HQ of the non-profit organization Wednesday morning, according to reports, and the street was cordoned off.

Harry Cockburn has the details.

Nothing reveals Donald Trump’s double standards on free speech more emphatically than the way the Jimmy Kimmel TV show in America has been taken off air.

Talk show host Kimmel was dropped after accusing the “MAGA gang of trying to score political points” off the murder of Charlie Kirk and mocking Trump’s reaction to it as “how a four-year-old mourns the death of a goldfish”. You can question Kimmel’s sense of taste, but you would expect a champion of free speech to leap to his defence.

Trump has done the opposite and even took time out during his state visit to Britain to post his approval of Kimmel’s silencing on his Truth Social social media outlet.

No one has ever accused Trump of having a sense of irony. But you would like to think that he paused for just a moment to consider the inconsistency of praising the virtues of free speech in his Windsor Castle banquet speech, and shortly afterwards, celebrating the demise of someone for exercising that supposed cherished freedom.