Jimmy Kimmel was abruptly pulled from the airwaves after criticizing the MAGA movement’s response to a high-profile killing, prompting Barack Obama to publicly denounce what he described as political interference in media by the Trump administration.
The late-night host’s show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was shelved indefinitely by Disney, according to an ABC spokesperson, just hours after Kimmel suggested on-air that Tyler Robinson—the man accused of killing a man named Kirk—might have been a pro-Trump Republican. “Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely,” the spokesperson told CNN.
The fallout from Kimmel’s monologue quickly escalated into a broader political flashpoint when Obama took to social media Thursday to call out what he sees as a dangerous trend of government coercion targeting journalists and entertainers.
“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,” Obama posted on X.
Roughly 15 hours had passed between Disney’s announcement and Obama’s response, which included a direct reference to a New York Times report about journalist Karen Attiah’s firing from The Washington Post. Attiah claimed she was dismissed over her online remarks following 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,” Obama added in a follow-up post.
Kimmel, a longtime critic of Donald Trump, made the controversial remarks during his Monday night monologue, accusing the MAGA movement of exploiting Kirk’s death for political gain. The identity and motives of Robinson, the suspect in the killing, remain under investigation.
As of Friday (September 19), Disney has not provided a timeline for when or if Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to air.