Jimmy Kimmel looked tense as he emerged for the first time since his show was cancelled following backlash over comments he made about Charlie Kirk‘s assassination.
Kirk was tragically shot dead while debating students at the Utah Valley University campus on September 10.
On air the following Monday, Kimmel said the ‘MAGA gang desperately [is] trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.’
The suspected shooter has been identified as 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who was raised in a strictly Republican household and was living with his transgender partner at the time of the attack. Relatives said he had become ‘more political’ in recent times.
On Wednesday, Kimmel’s late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended ‘indefinitely’ amid the MAGA backlash over his comments.
He was spotted for the first time in public on Thursday afternoon, wearing black sunglasses and a navy button down in the drivers seat of his Audi.
While Kimmel put on a brave face and smiled for the cameras as he stepped out of the car, earlier pictures captured a tense moment as he put his head in his hands.
It is understood the pictures of Kimmel were taken at a Century City location where several law firms are based.
He was spotted for the first time in public on Thursday afternoon, wearing black sunglasses and a navy button down in the drivers seat of his Audi
Kimmel put on a brave face and smiled for the cameras as he stepped out of the car
Kirk had been meeting with students and community members at Utah Valley University last Wednesday when he was suddenly shot in the neck
The late-night host had also poked fun at President Donald Trump’s reaction to the shooting during his segment.
‘This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend,’ he said. ‘This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.’
Shortly after ABC announced Kimmel had been suspended, Trump said: ‘The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.
‘Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.’
Staff of the Jimmy Kimmel Show! were seen packing up their gear from the Los Angeles studio on Wednesday, hours after the host was brutally axed.
Hollywood unions SAG-AFTRA and WGA showed their support for Kimmel — who is a member of both — in light of the news, as per Deadline.
‘SAG-AFTRA condemns the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! Our society depends on freedom of expression. Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on,’ a statement from the acting guild read.
‘Democracy thrives when diverse points of view are expressed. The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms. SAG-AFTRA stands with all media artists and defends their right to express their diverse points of view, and everyone’s right to hear them.’
Pictures captured a tense moment as he put his head in his hands
Kirk (pictured with his family) was a co-founder of the political nonprofit Turning Point USA
The Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East also condemned the decision.
‘The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other – to disturb, even – is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice.’
‘As a Guild, we stand united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent. If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn’t have bothered to write it into the Constitution.
‘What we have signed on to – painful as it may be at times – is the freeing agreement to disagree. Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world.’
It is understood the pictures of Kimmel were taken at a Century City location where several law firms are based
On Wednesday, Kimmel’s late night show Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended ‘indefinitely’ amid the MAGA backlash over his comments
‘Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?’ the Jimmy Kimmel Live host wrote on Instagram
Protesters gathered outside the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, where Jimmy Kimmel Live! is filmed, on Thursday
Many carried signs calling for ‘justice’ for Kimmel
Several protest signs condemned ABC’s decision to pull Kimmel off air
The television personality’s remarks had caught instant flak from Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, who told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson earlier on Wednesday that he was considering an investigation into Kimmel and his network ABC for his claims.
‘When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,’ Carr told Johnson.
‘As you’ve indicated, there are avenues here for the FCC, so there… are some ways in which I need to be a little bit careful because we could be called ultimately to be a judge on some of these claims that come up,’ Carr said.
