Hollywood stars unleash their fury on ABC over Jimmy Kimmel suspension

by

Several Hollywood stars have come to the defense of Jimmy Kimmel after he was suspended from his show following remarks he made about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

ABC has put Jimmy Kimmel Live! on hold indefinitely, a network spokesperson said Wednesday.

On Monday, the talk show host sparked outrage by discussing the recent killing of Kirk at Utah Valley University. During his show, he claimed that supporters of Donald Trump, who he referred to as the ‘MAGA gang,’ were attempting to exploit the tragedy for political gain.

Tyler Robinson, 22, who is believed to be the shooter, has been arrested and faced a judge in court on Tuesday. He is charged with several crimes, including aggravated murder.

Kimmel suggested Robinson held conservative views, even though investigations showed he leaned far-left and was dating his transgender roommate.

Nexstar, the network’s affiliate group, also stated on Wednesday that it “strongly disagrees” with Kimmel’s remarks and will replace his show with different programs in the ABC stations it serves.

Following the news about Jimmy Kimmel’s show, several celebrities have spoken out, including singer Halsey, who shared the story on her Instagram.

She followed up by saying we’ve reached the stage where people are encouraged to report on each other, censorship is rampant, and propaganda is so pervasive it’s hard to tell what’s true – a clear sign of fascism, in her view.

John Legend shared a post from David Frum highlighting a point about potential overreach. Frum questioned the outrage when people label certain actions as ‘fascist,’ given instances where government officials threaten consequences for broadcast networks if comedians don’t align with their preferred messaging.

Ben Stiller shared news on X (formerly Twitter) that ABC was removing Jimmy Kimmel from their lineup, and simply wrote, ‘This isn’t right.’

MSNBC host and political commentator Chris Hayes expressed strong concern over recent actions, calling them the most direct assault on free speech he’s witnessed, and stated that no other instance comes close in comparison.

California Governor Gavin Newsom posted on X (formerly Twitter) about a concerning trend: wealthy individuals or groups purchasing media companies, dismissing commentators, and canceling television programs.

Let’s be clear: what’s happening isn’t random. It feels very deliberate, and frankly, it’s concerning. As someone who deeply values open communication, I’m seeing a pattern of suppression from the Republican party. They’re actively working to control the information you see, and that’s a real threat to free speech – it’s happening right now.

Alison Brie, known for her role in *Community*, also shared the news on Instagram, describing it as ‘unreal and very scary’.

Don Lemon described recent news as deeply troubling, using strong language on Threads. He also pointed out the irony of those who criticize ‘cancel culture’ themselves engaging in it.

He continued, ‘Doesn’t that show you they don’t actually believe their own words? This is a really worrying and frightening time.’

Christie Brinkley posted a picture of Jimmy Kimmel with fellow late-night hosts like Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver.

I really enjoy this comedy group – they bring so much laughter into our lives! It’s incredibly disappointing to hear they’re cancelling another one of their shows tonight. We need to defend their right to express themselves, as well as our own freedom of speech!

Justin Theroux expressed his anger on Instagram, stating ‘Culture > Politics.’ Meanwhile, actress Justine Lupe shared a post from Chris Gethard warning that institutions like Colbert, Kimmel, NPR, CBS, and The Kennedy Center are facing threats to the arts.

On Wednesday, former President Donald Trump celebrated the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel’s show, posting on his Truth Social platform that it was ‘Great News for America’ and noting its struggling ratings.

It’s good to see ABC taking necessary action. Jimmy Kimmel lacks talent and his show performs even worse in ratings compared to Stephen Colbert’s, which is quite a feat.

Trump ended his statement by criticizing Jimmy and Seth, calling them ‘total losers’ and noting their show on NBC has ‘horrible’ ratings. He urged NBC to take action, signing off as ‘President DJT’.

The U.S. president mentioned Stephen Colbert, whose late-night show was canceled by CBS in July.

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will come to an end next year in May 2026.

Even though the show was canceled, Stephen Colbert still won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Series this past weekend.

The comedian started the show on Tuesday by jokingly criticizing Trump for not having received one of the awards.

Hello everyone, and welcome to The Late Show! I’m your host, Stephen Colbert. And apologies – I should have said welcome to the Emmy Award-winning Late Show!

After receiving applause, the star joked, ‘It’s funny, Donald Trump has never won an Emmy.’

In July, CBS announced it was ending The Late Show With Stephen Colbert after a decade on television.

This happened shortly after he angrily spoke on live television about Paramount, the network’s owner, agreeing to a $16 million legal settlement with Donald Trump.

Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a dispute with Donald Trump, who claimed the company unfairly altered a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris when she was running for vice president.

As part of the agreement, the company will also make the full, unedited transcripts from its 60 Minutes interviews with presidential candidates publicly available.

Stephen Colbert publicly criticized Paramount’s deal with Donald Trump, arguing they had a strong chance of winning if they had challenged it in court.

This Tuesday, President Trump announced he’s filing a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.

In July, Donald Trump sued The Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch for $10 billion. The lawsuit stemmed from the publication reporting on claims about a birthday note Trump supposedly sent to Jeffrey Epstein.

I seriously can’t believe this is happening! ABC just took Jimmy Kimmel off the air – indefinitely, they said! Apparently, it’s because of something he said about Charlie Kirk, and it’s caused a huge uproar. I’m absolutely devastated! What will I watch now? It’s just… unbelievable. They’re saying his comments were really divisive, but I don’t care! I just want my Kimmel back! This is a disaster!

The decision followed a comment made by Kimmel about the person accused of killing Kirk, where he suggested the suspect was politically conservative. But authorities have stated that the suspect, Robinson, actually held very liberal beliefs and was in a relationship with his transgender roommate.

The TV personality quickly faced criticism from Federal Communications Commission head Brendan Carr after falsely claiming that Robinson supported the MAGA movement.

On Wednesday, Carr mentioned to conservative podcast host Benny Johnson that he was thinking about investigating Jimmy Kimmel and ABC News because of his controversial comments.

Senator Carr told Johnson that Jimmy Kimmel’s actions seemed extremely inappropriate and disturbing.

Carr explained that the FCC has options in this situation, but he needs to proceed cautiously. They might eventually have to rule on any disputes that arise.

Kimmel’s comments about Robinson came during his Monday night monologue.

The host stated that over the weekend, supporters of Donald Trump, often referred to as the ‘MAGA gang,’ were intensely trying to distance themselves from the individual who allegedly attacked Charlie Kirk. They were accused of prioritizing political gain over addressing the situation honestly.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been a network staple for more than 22 years.

After Kimmel made his comments, Carr suggested temporarily removing him from his show – just one of the possible solutions they discussed.

Johnson then asked Carr for his opinion on how to handle the situation, suggesting that Kimmel issue an apology on television.

You know, what you just suggested really makes sense to me. It feels like a perfectly sensible, and frankly, a really easy first step we could take.

ABC canceled the show right after Nexstar, its broadcasting partner, announced it would also stop showing it immediately.

Nexstar is responding to comments made by Jimmy Kimmel about the death of Charlie Kirk by pulling his show from its local ABC stations and replacing it with other content, the company announced Wednesday.

I was absolutely furious when I heard about what Jimmy Kimmel said! Can you believe it? After everything that happened to Bill Montgomery, the co-founder of Turning Point USA – it was just awful, a complete tragedy at that rally on September 10th – Nexstar’s president, Andrew Alford, *rightfully* called Kimmel out. It was so offensive and insensitive, and Alford was totally right to say so! It’s just…unbelievable.

Shortly after a supporter of Donald Trump was shot and killed on the Orem campus while speaking before a crowd of 3,000 people, Jimmy Kimmel responded to the news online.

Kimmel asked if everyone could simply acknowledge that shooting another person is a terrible and awful act, rather than focusing on blame.

My family and I are sending our deepest sympathy to the Kirks, and to everyone – especially the children and parents – affected by the tragedy of gun violence.

I was a big fan, so it was really shocking to me when he suddenly seemed to shift his views during that Monday night segment – it was that very monologue that led to his show being canceled, unfortunately.

After Nexstar decided to cancel Kimmel’s show, both Johnson and Carr shared positive posts on X.

‘Great job @NXSTMediaGroup. Thank you for standing up for Charlie,’ Johnson wrote.

Read More

2025-09-18 07:20