![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/9c665e462c1244769543c319d4d6dfc2.jpg\" "\\"Election")
Former US president Barack Obama said \u2018media companies need to start standing up\u2019 (Erin Hooley\/PA)<\/p>\nABC\u2019s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s show following comments he made about the killing of Charlie Kirk drew reactions from across the entertainment and political worlds, including from US president Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert got the news on Wednesday while taping an episode of his own show in New York, telling a stunned studio audience that Jimmy Kimmel Live! had been suspended.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a mix of shock and bewilderment,\u201d said audience member Monserrat Lopez, recounting how Colbert left the stage before coming back to say he would call Kimmel to talk privately.<\/p>\n
Just this summer, CBS said Mr Colbert\u2019s Late Show would end next year because of financial reasons \u2013 a decision made just after Colbert criticised a settlement between Mr Trump and CBS\u2019s parent company over a 60 Minutes story.<\/p>\n
During Mr Kimmel\u2019s Monday night monologue, he suggested that the suspect in Mr Kirk\u2019s killing might have been a pro-Trump Republican.<\/p>\n
Mr Kimmel\u2019s show was suspended not long after Nexstar Communications Group announced plans to pull the programme from its 23 ABC affiliates starting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The Federal Communications Commission\u2019s chairman called Kimmel\u2019s comments \u201ctruly sick\u201d and said his agency had a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC and network parent Walt Disney Co accountable for spreading misinformation.<\/p>\n
There was no immediate comment from Mr Kimmel, whose contract is up in May 2026. In its statement announcing the suspension, ABC did not cite a reason.<\/p>\n
Here are some other notable reactions:<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Donald Trump\n <\/p>\n
\u201cGreat News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,\u201d Mr Trump posted on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that\u2019s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC,\u201d he wrote, referring to late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither Fallon nor Meyers had commented publicly about Mr Trump\u2019s post as of Thursday.<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Former president Barack Obama\n <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter 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\u2019t like,\u201d Mr Obama posted on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent \u2013 and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former US president Barack Obama said \u2018media companies need to start standing up\u2019 (Erin Hooley\/PA)<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Brendan Carr, FCC chairman\n <\/p>\n
\u201cLocal broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest,\u201d Mr Carr told Fox News.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Ken Martin, Democratic National Committee chairman\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThe state under Donald Trump has amassed a chilling record of restricting speech, extorting private companies, and dropping the full weight of the government censorship hammer on First Amendment rights,\u201d Mr Martin said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is no exaggeration. Trump\u2019s attorney general has directly confirmed that they\u2019ll come after you for your speech, and now his FCC chair has doubled down. It\u2019s not the bully pulpit anymore \u2013 it\u2019s the thought police presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Wanda Sykes, comedian\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI was supposed to go over and have a chat with my friend Jimmy Kimmel on his show, but as you have heard by now, the Jimmy Kimmel Show has been pulled indefinitely,\u201d Sykes posted on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbruptly, because of complaints from the Trump administration. So let\u2019s see. He didn\u2019t end the Ukraine war or solve Gaza within his first week. But he did end freedom of speech within his first year. Hey, for those of you who pray, now\u2019s the time to do it. Love you Jimmy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Megyn Kelly, conservative podcaster\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure who needs to hear this but Jimmy Kimmel got on the air and falsely stated as a fact that Charlie Kirk\u2019s killer was Maga, smearing an entire movement and Trump in particular with a vile disgusting lie \u2014 and at a time when the threat against those on the right is at an all-time high,\u201d Ms Kelly posted on social media.<\/p>\n
Ms Kelly was fired from her NBC morning show in 2018 after suggesting it was OK for white people to wear blackface at Halloween.<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Mike Birbiglia, comedian\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve spent a lot of time in public and private defending comedians I don\u2019t agree with. If you\u2019re a comedian and you don\u2019t call out the insanity of pulling Kimmel off the air \u2013 don\u2019t bother spouting off about free speech any more,\u201d Birbiglia posted on social media.<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Mark R Levin, conservative radio host and podcaster\n <\/p>\n
\u201cKimmel canned for disgusting Kirk comments. \u2026 Jimmy Kimmel is a pathetic hatemonger. He should\u2019ve been canned a long time ago. Better late than never,\u201d Levin posted on social media.<\/p>\n
\n \u2013 Senator Adam Schiff\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThis administration is responsible for the most blatant attacks on the free press in American history,\u201d the Democratic senator from California posted on social media. \u201cWhat will be left of the First Amendment when he\u2019s done?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ABC\u2019s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s show following comments he made about the killing of Charlie Kirk drew reactions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":30121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[4677,93,61,60,13939,6514,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-30120","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-digital","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-kimmel","13":"tag-place-international","14":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}