Utah prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty for the 22-year-old alleged shooter.<\/p>\n
The show’s host, comedian Jimmy Kimmel, suggested during a monologue earlier this week Mr Kirk’s alleged killer may have been a pro-Trump Republican.<\/p>\n
Suspect Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with the aggravated murder of Mr Kirk during a speaking event on a Utah university campus.<\/p>\n
Mr Kimmel on Monday night, local time, accused “the MAGA gang” of trying to “score political points” by characterising Mr Robinson as “anything other than them”.<\/p>\n
“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving,” he said.<\/p>\n
His comments sparked outrage from the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the group responsible for regulating broadcasts.<\/p>\n
FCC chair Brendan Carr told a right-wing podcast Mr Kimmel’s remarks constituted “the sickest conduct possible”.<\/p>\n
He added the FCC could move to revoke the ABC’s affiliate licenses to force the organisation to punish Mr Kimmel.<\/p>\n
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Mr Carr said.<\/p>\n
“These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”<\/p>\n
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He later labelled Mr Kimmel as “talentless” and said his comments showed “some sort of desperate irrelevance”.<\/p>\n
Prior to his on-air monologue, Mr Kimmel had posted a statement condemning the shooting on social media.<\/p>\n
“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote.<\/p>\n
He added he and his family “send love” to the Kirk family and “all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence”.<\/p>\n
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is owned by US broadcaster ABC.<\/p>\n
ABC affiliate Nexstar Media Group announced it would pre-empt the show on its television stations, replacing it with other programming indefinitely.<\/p>\n
Nexstar’s broadcasting president, Andrew Alford, said Mr Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive”.<\/p>\n
“We do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Continuing to give Mr Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time.<\/p>\n
“And we have made the difficult decision to pre-empt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”<\/p>\n
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Donald Trump posted to Truth Social following the announcement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Minutes later, the ABC announced Mr Kimmel would be taken off the air “indefinitely”.<\/p>\n
Another ABC affiliate group, Sinclair, announced it would air a Charlie Kirk memorial special in Mr Kimmel’s usual time-slot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They said it would not return Jimmy Kimmy Live to its stations “until formal discussions” with ABC regarding its “commitment to professionalism and accountability”.\u00a0<\/p>\n
US President Donald Trump took to his social media platform Truth Social following the announcement, celebrating the show’s cancellation.<\/p>\n
He called the decision “great news for America”.<\/p>\n
“The rating challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is cancelled,” the president said.<\/p>\n
“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.<\/p>\n
“Kimmel has zero talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.”<\/p>\n
He also called for Kimmel’s fellow late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, to be taken off the air by their broadcaster, NBC.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jimmy Kimmel is now the second late-night host to lose their show this year.\u00a0 (Getty Images: Randy Holmes\/Disney General Entertainment Content)<\/p>\n
It is not the first time Mr Kimmel has been in the firing line in recent months.<\/p>\n