Jimmy Kimmel spoke about Charlie Kirk‘s shooting before the controversial monologue that led to his late night show being suspended.
Kimmel, 57, shared his thoughts via X as news broke of the incident at Utah Valley University on September 10, writing, “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?”
He continued: “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.”
Kirk, a conservative commentator, was fatally shot while speaking at the college in Utah. He was 31 and is survived by his wife, Erika, and their two children.
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After a two-day manhunt, law enforcement announced on Friday, September 12, that a suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was in police custody. Kimmel subsequently addressed Robinson’s arrest on the Monday, September 15, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said in his monologue. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
An ABC spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 17, that Kimmel’s show “will be pre-empted indefinitely” amid backlash to his comments. (A rerun of Celebrity Family Feud aired in place of the late night show on Wednesday.)
Following Kimmel’s monologue, Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, called out the comedian and the network, claiming on Benny Johnson’s YouTube show, “I think you could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this.”
Kimmel also faced pushback from Nexstar Media — one of the largest TV station owners in America — who told Variety in a statement on Wednesday that they planned to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! as the company “strongly” objected to Kimmel’s comments about Kirk.
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While Kimmel has yet to address the controversy, he has received an outpouring of support from fellow celebrities, including Ben Stiller, who retweeted an article about the controversy and added, “This isn’t right.”
Sophia Bush also reposted the news of Kimmel being pulled off air, writing via X, “The First Amendment doesn’t exist in America anymore. Fascism is here and it’s chilling.”
Journalist Don Lemon shared a video slamming the decision via Threads. “This is the same party that complains everything is too woke, that comedians can’t say anything anymore, that they’re killing comedy,” he wrote. “But the folks who complain about killing comedy are the ones killing comedy. What does that tell you? They don’t believe in anything they’re saying. They have no core. This is some scary s***.”
