The newest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! was unexpectedly canceled and pulled from the lineup at the last minute.
David Duchovny, Joe Keery and Madison Beer were originally meant to appear on the Thursday, November 6, episode of the late-night show. However, the episode was pulled late in the day with no explanation and a previous episode featuring Tessa Thompson, Daymond John and The Beths re-aired instead.
Jimmy Kimmel and ABC haven’t publicly addressed the abrupt cancellation. Beer, 26, meanwhile, took to social media to address her planned performance.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, @jimmykimmellive needed to reschedule my performance that was originally scheduled to air tonight to a later date,” she wrote via her Instagram Stories on Thursday.
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The surprising change comes two months after Kimmel’s talk show was pulled off the air over his comments about Charlie Kirk. A spokesperson for ABC confirmed to Us Weekly in September that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be “pre-empted indefinitely.”
Kimmel spoke about Tyler Robinson being arrested for Kirk’s murder on 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,” he said at the time. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
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 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
In response to his show being put on hiatus, 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.”
After days of discussion, the Walt Disney Company announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would resume taping.
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“It’s been overwhelming. I’ve heard from a lot of people over the last six days. I’ve heard from all the people in the last six days. Everyone I have ever known has reached out 10 or 11 times,” Kimmel said during his monologue. “You supported our show [and] cared enough to do something about it to make your voices heard so that mine could be heard and I will never forget it.”
Kimmel then clarified his comments about Kirk’s death.
“I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to do and say tonight, and the truth is, I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference,” he said. “If you like me, you like me, if you don’t, I have no illusions of changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human: It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
Kimmel continued, “I posted a message on Instagram on the day [Charlie] was killed sending my love to his family asking for compassion, and I meant it and I still do. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was a deeply disturbed individual. That was actually the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
Conservative political commentator Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on September 10. He was 31.
