Both the SAG-AFTRA and WGA unions are speaking out after ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel‘s talk show off the air indefinitely over the late-night host’s comments about Charlie Kirk.
A spokesperson for ABC confirmed to Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 17, that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be “pre-empted indefinitely.”
Kimmel, 57, spoke about Tyler Robinson being arrested for Kirk’s murder on the Monday, September 15, episode of the show.
“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,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
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Kimmel added that President Donald Trump was taking the news “hard” before showing a clip of the president talking to reporters about the White House ballroom construction after he was asked how he was coping with Kirk’s tragic passing.
“He’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction,” Kimmel quipped. “It’s demolition, construction.”
Kimmel then took a dig at Trump, adding, “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Nexstar Media — one of the largest TV station owners in America — subsequently 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.
In response to the backlash, Screen Actors Guild–American Federation of Television and Radio Artists issued a statement.
“SAG-AFTRA condemns the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Our society depends on freedom of expression,” they stated. “Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on. Democracy thrives when diverse points of view are expressed.”
The union continued: “The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms. SAG-AFTRA stands with all media artists and defends their right to express their diverse points of view, and everyone’s right to hear them.”
The Writers Guild of America West and East also made it clear that the organization “stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.”
“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. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice,” their statement read. “As a Guild, we stand united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent.”
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The statement concluded: “If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn’t have bothered to write it into the Constitution. What we have signed on to – painful as it may be at times – is the freeing agreement to disagree. Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world.”
Kimmel 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 said. “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***.”
Kimmel has yet to publicly address the backlash or suspension.
