Mentalist Oz Pearlman will not appear on \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d Monday night, despite previously being scheduled as the embattled comedian\u2019s guest.<\/p>\n
Pearlman\u2019s apparent decision to back out comes two days after the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner shooting<\/a>, where the entertainer was set to perform magic tricks for the commander-in-chief and attendees \u2014 and hours after President Trump and first lady Melania Trump both called for Kimmel\u2019s firing over a \u201chateful\u201d monologue.<\/p>\n Jimmy Kimmel, 58, mocked the dinner during a sketch on his show last week, where he delivered a fake speech in which he said: \u201cOur first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.\u201d<\/p>\n First lady Melania Trump, mentalist Oz Pearlman, President Trump and CBS News\u2019 Weijia Jiang react to the sound of shots being fired at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner on April 25, 2026. Pool<\/p>\n Kimmel mocked the WHCD on his April 23 show, in which he said, \u201cOur first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.\u201d<\/p>\n Jimmy Kimmel Live \/ YouTube<\/p>\n On Monday, following the shooting, the first lady fumed<\/a> that \u201cPeople like Kimmel shouldn\u2019t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKimmel\u2019s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,\u201d Melania wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cHis monologue about my family isn\u2019t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough.\u00a0 It is time for ABC to take a stand.\u00a0 How many times will ABC\u2019s leadership enable Kimmel\u2019s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community,\u201d she raged.<\/p>\n The president echoed his wife\u2019s comments in a subsequent social media post<\/a> calling for\u00a0Kimmel to be \u201cimmediately fired by Disney and ABC.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump argued Kimmel\u2019s \u201cdespicable call to violence\u201d was \u201cbeyond the pale.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearlman, who was in the middle of a trick when shots rang out<\/a> outside the Washington Hilton ballroom, described the incident as \u201cthe scariest moment of my life\u201d in an Instagram post Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWas 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,\u201d he wrote<\/a>. \u201cWe hit the deck fast and Secret Service acted decisively and professionally to protect us all.\u201d<\/p>\n Pearlman poses at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for OP<\/p>\n 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<\/p>\n Pearlman added, \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Accused gunman Cole Allen<\/a>, 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cPod Save America\u201d host Jon Lovett is now listed as Kimmel\u2019s replacement guest on ABC\u2019s website.<\/p>\n Reps for Kimmel and Pearlman did not immediately respond to The Post\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> on his ABC show. <\/p>\n The \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d suspension prompted widespread boycotts of parent company Disney for alleged media suppression and First Amendment violations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kimmel did not apologize for the comments when he returned, but said: \u201cIt was never my intention to make light of a murder of a young man. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything funny about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t