Mentalist Oz Pearlman will not appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday night, despite previously being scheduled as the embattled comedian’s guest.
Pearlman’s apparent decision to back out comes two days after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting, where the entertainer was set to perform magic tricks for the commander-in-chief and attendees — and hours after President Trump and first lady Melania Trump both called for Kimmel’s firing over a “hateful” monologue.
Jimmy Kimmel, 58, mocked the dinner during a sketch on his show last week, where he delivered a fake speech in which he said: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
First lady Melania Trump, mentalist Oz Pearlman, President Trump and CBS News’ Weijia Jiang react to the sound of shots being fired at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on April 25, 2026. Pool
Kimmel mocked the WHCD on his April 23 show, in which he said, “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live / YouTube
On Monday, following the shooting, the first lady fumed that “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” Melania wrote on X. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”
“A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community,” she raged.
The president echoed his wife’s comments in a subsequent social media post calling for Kimmel to be “immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
Trump argued Kimmel’s “despicable call to violence” was “beyond the pale.”
Pearlman, who was in the middle of a trick when shots rang out outside the Washington Hilton ballroom, described the incident as “the scariest moment of my life” in an Instagram post Sunday.
“Was in the middle of performing for the President and First Lady when I looked up to see a commotion, thought it was a bomb about to go off or shots fired,” he wrote. “We hit the deck fast and Secret Service acted decisively and professionally to protect us all.”
Pearlman poses at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for OP
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and the first lady look on as President Trump holds a press briefing at the White House after the WHCD shooting. REUTERS
Pearlman added, “We laid on the ground, I was a couple feet away from President Trump, eyes locked with one another. It was likely the scariest moment of my life and will never forget it. So happy everyone is ok.”
Accused gunman Cole Allen, 31, was detained by authorities at the hotel and hit with charges of attempted assassination of the president, transportation of a firearm across state lines to commit a felony and discharging a gun.
“Pod Save America” host Jon Lovett is now listed as Kimmel’s replacement guest on ABC’s website.
Reps for Kimmel and Pearlman did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
The late-night host was taken off the air for a week in September, after affiliate backlast over false and inflammatory remarks he made about the assassination of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk on his ABC show.
The “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” suspension prompted widespread boycotts of parent company Disney for alleged media suppression and First Amendment violations.
Kimmel did not apologize for the comments when he returned, but said: “It was never my intention to make light of a murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”