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John Oliver is speaking out about Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show being pulled
On Wednesday, Sept. 17, a spokesperson for Disney’s ABC confirmed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be on indefinite hiatus
The news followed Jimmy Kimmel’s reaction to the death of right-wing media personality Charlie Kirk
John Oliver is speaking out about Jimmy Kimmel‘s show being pulled from ABC.
The Last Week Tonight host, 48, addressed ABC’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! after Kimmel’s Sept. 15 monologue about Charlie Kirk, during his show on Sunday, Sept. 21.
“A person getting shot is tragic and a person getting shot for their ideas is horrifying … and for many, especially those who are the targets of some of Kirk’s ideas, it has been hard to stay quiet,” Oliver said.
He continued, adding, “Setting all of that aside, it does seem like some are now willing to weaponize Kirk’s death to do things they’ve been wanting to do for years, whether it’s going after liberal groups, trans people … under some shamelessly flimsy pretext, which brings us back to Jimmy Kimmel.”
Oliver called the administration’s decision to pull Kimmel’s show “a weird response,” stating, “It’s not news that the administration’s been wanted to get rid of shows like his.”
“The pretext that’s been used to indefinitely suspend Kimmel’s show is just laughably weak,” said Oliver.
“The comments that got him trouble weren’t about Kirk,” he continued as he then showed a post from Kimmel, 57, sharing his condolences to Kirk’s family following his death.
“What got Kimmel in trouble was a passing reference on Monday night,” continued Oliver. “Now at the time there were still rumors flying around regarding the killer’s motivations, including that he was on the far right, something that Kimmel alluded to like this … yeah, that was it.”
The host also mentioned that he was a guest on the same episode of the show and said he “didn’t even register that comment.”
“The point is, Kimmel didn’t denigrate Charlie Kirk or make light of his killing,” Oliver continued. “The worst thing you could say is that he appears to have been wrong about the shooter’s ideology, which, okay. But he was also pointing out that many on the right seem desperate to weaponize Kirk’s death, an argument that’s aged pretty well, given, you know, everything that’s happened to Kimmel since.”
Oliver also called out FCC Chair Brendan Carr for pulling Kimmel’s show, stating that the company “badly needs FCC approval.”
He said, “It is hardly surprising that when Carr specifically said companies should pull Kimmel off the air or face consequences, it quickly complies.”
Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty
Host Kimmel on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
Oliver called the suspension of Kimmel’s show as “a turning point,” stating that, if the government “can force a network to pull a late night show off the air in plain view, it can do a f— of a lot worse.”
Oliver’s comments come after ABC shared the news about Kimmel on Thursday, Sept. 17, following the longtime TV personality’s on-air comments about the death of right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk. Kirk was the founder of the conservative advocacy group Turning Point USA and a close ally of President Donald Trump.
During his Live! monologue on Monday, Sept. 15, Kimmel said “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. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
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The decision from the network arrived one week after Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University.
Nexstar Media wrote in a statement that it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”
The company recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, putting Nexstar in 80% of America’s TV-owning households, per a press release. The acquisition requires final approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission.
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While Kimmel has been on the air since 2003, Oliver’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver debuted on HBO a decade later. The talk show was replaced in the ABC schedule on Wednesday night by a taping of Celebrity Family Feud.
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