Jimmy Kimmel has gone nuclear after ABC pulled his show following his vile comments about Charlie Kirk‘s assassination.
Insiders told the Daily Mail the late-night host is ‘absolutely f***ing livid’ they canceled Jimmy Kimmel Live! just hours before he was due to go on air.
The sources revealed he was holding a crunch meeting with network executives, but is keen to ‘break his relationship with them forever’ and is already teeing up a guest slot with axed CBS star Stephen Colbert.
Meanwhile one of his producers said they were ‘wandering around like aimless cows’, adding: ‘I’ve never seen Jimmy this angry.’
Kimmel ranted about the shooting on his Monday night episode, suggesting the assassin ‘was MAGA’ and the Republicans were trying to ‘score political points’.
On Wednesday FCC Chair Brendan Carr urged broadcasters to stop airing his show, hinting he would open an investigation into the vicious comments.
Nexstar Media Group, which owners numerous local ABC affiliates, then came out and branded Kimmel’s comments ‘offensive and insensitive’.
By Wednesday night Disney-owned ABC announced Jimmy Kimmel Live! was ‘pre-empted indefinitely’, without elaborating further.
Jimmy Kimmel, 57, is ‘absolutely f***ing livid’ at ABC’s decision to pull his late-night talk show over his divisive comments regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk; Pictured 2024
Kimmel’s late night slot will be replaced with an episode of Celebrity Family Feud tonight.
A source told the Daily Mail: ‘Jimmy is p***ed over the decision to suspend him and the show and he isn’t going to take this lightly, as he is actively looking for ways to get out of his contract.
‘This is the last straw and Jimmy is now looking to forever break his relationship with ABC forever.’
They continued: ‘Stephen Colbert is already looking to get Jimmy on his show as a guest in the next couple days or within the week.
‘Now they both are in the same predicament with being against the Trump administration, and they are now looking to do something together to fight for what they believe in.
‘They both don’t want Trump to win in any way or fashion at all, and this has lit an extreme fire under Jimmy’s ass to continue to tell it like it is and be real to himself.’
A producer on the show gave a glimpse into how the news was being met by Kimmel and the rest of the crew.
They said: ‘Well now I don’t have anything to do, we’re shut down indefinitely. We’re all here and were basically wandering around like aimless cows.
‘Jimmy is going to meet with the network now, and hopefully figure this out, but he is livid.
‘Absolutely f***ing livid. This is clearly the government overreaching. There’s no such thing as free speech in America, if the government can lean on companies to stop any content they don’t like.
On Wednesday, it was announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be removed from the network ‘for the foreseeable future,’ after he posted a controversial statement about Kirk’s murder suspect Tyler Robinson, 22; Kirk pictured September 10
Kimmel insinuated Robinson (pictured during his video court appearance on September 16) was a conservative, even though investigators say the alleged shooter held far-left ideologies
‘And shame on the network for caving into the pressure. He didn’t even say anything that bad – but even if he did, that’s freedom of speech.
‘Jimmy said he’s going to fight this, not even because he cares so much for the show, although he does, but because he cares about the precedent. He can’t make a comment about Charlie Kirk?
‘Look over at all the sh** that they’re saying on Fox. Look at what they say on South Park.
‘This is persecution, and Jimmy isn’t going to stand for it. And he has a lot of friends who are going to cause problems if suddenly he doesn’t have a show.
‘He’ll get every friend he has to stop doing ABC shows. You want to book someone on the view? Good f***ing luck. How f***ing dare they?
‘As p***ed off as I am, you can only imagine how Jimmy is. He’s beside himself. I’ve never seen him this angry, ever. It’s bad.’
‘Jimmy is p****d over the decision to suspend him and the show and he isn’t going to take this lightly, as he is actively looking for ways to get out of his contract,’ a source told Daily Mail
Kimmel sparked fury on Monday night by suggesting Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA Republican, despite investigators saying he held far-left sympathies.
He said: ‘We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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.’
It was in stark contract to his social media posts shortly after the shooting that shocked the world.
He wrote: ‘Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?
‘On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.’
Kimmel was reportedly set to address his remarks on his show Wednesday night, before he received news that he had been axed, according to Deadline.
On Wednesday FCC chair Carr told podcaster Benny Johnson he was considering an investigation into Kimmel and his network ABC over the jarring remarks.
He said: ‘When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible.
He said: ‘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.’
At one point, Johnson asked Carr what kind of action he thought should be taken, proposing an on-air apology from Kimmel.
Carr replied: ‘I think what you said there strikes me as a very reasonable, minimal step that can be taken.’
Kirk (pictured with his family) was a co-founder of the political nonprofit Turning Point USA
Kirk, 31, was killed in front of his family and a 3,000-strong audience last Wednesday when Tyler Robinson allegedly fired one shot into his neck from a nearby rooftop.
The Talking Point USA founder had been talking at Utah Valley University when the gun went off, and Robinson was arrested late the next day.
ABC’s decision to pull the show came shortly after its affiliate group, Nexstar, announced it would stop airing it effective immediately.
The company wrote: ‘Nexstar 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.’
Nexstar’s broadcasting division President Andrew Alford blasted Kimmel’s comments as ‘offensive and insensitive.’
President Donald Trump responded to the news of Kimmel’s cancellation on Truth Social, stating that Kimmel has ‘zero talent’
A number of stars also shared their reactions to Kimmel’s axing. After learning the news, actor Ben Stiller, 59, wrote on Twitter: ‘This isn’t right’
MSNBC host Chris Hayes wrote, ‘This is the most straightforward attack on free speech from state actors I’ve ever seen in my life and it’s not even close’
In reaction to Nextstar’s move to silence Kimmel, both Johnson and Carr posted celebratory sentiments on X.
‘Great job @NXSTMediaGroup. Thank you for standing up for Charlie,’ Johnson wrote.
President Donald Trump also called the late night show’s cancelation ‘great news for America’.
‘Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.
‘That leaves Jimmy [Fallon] and Seth [Meyers], two total losers on Fake News NBC. ‘Their ratings are also horrible,’ he added.
But those on the left were less impressed. Actor Ben Stiller wrote on Twitter: ‘This isn’t right.’
MSNBC host Chris Hayes wrote: ‘This is the most straightforward attack on free speech from state actors I’ve ever seen in my life and it’s not even close.’
California Governor Gavin Newsom also blamed the Republican Party for not believing in free speech, claiming ‘they are censoring you in real time.’
‘Buying and controlling media platforms. Firing commentators. Canceling shows. These aren’t coincidences. It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous.’
He added: ‘The @GOP does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time.’
The big three of the late night genre have long been considered to be Kimmel, Colbert, and Fallon, all competing at the coveted time slot of 11:35 pm EST.
Kimmel’s fellow host Stephen Colbert, whose Late Show was cancelled in July and will end in 2026, is looking to have him as a guest, as they are both ‘in the same predicament with being against the Trump administration’; Colbert pictured September 14
The three hosts represented the three major network power players, ABC, CBS, and NBC, respectively, before Colbert was also canned earlier this summer.
Colbert had typically scored the top spot in ratings, finishing first in 2023 and 2024 with an average of 2.6 million viewers.
Kimmel finished the last two years in second, with an average of 1.82 million viewers, while Fallon placed third with 1.43 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Despite Colbert’s success in ratings, the network still decided to axe his slot altogether, potentially representing a bleak outlook for the two Jimmys.
All three late-night shows dipped in ratings over the last five years, and shows at the 12:35 slot were even worse off.
CBS ended James Corden’s The Late Late Show in 2023, citing that the later time slot was no longer profitable for the network.
Similarly to Colbert’s departure, CBS opted to end the program altogether and never replaced Corden.
Viewing habits have changed in the age of streaming platforms like Netflix, making it harder for networks to attract advertisers – and the gigantic salaries of the little-watched late night hosts.
CBS were rumored to pay Colbert $15million-a-year for his doomed show, with Kimmel said to be on the same enormous amount and Fallon on slightly more at $16million.
But shows that once combined light celebrity interviews with gentle social commentary are now filled with constant jibes about Trump and politics, with fewer viewers having a stomach for such sourness just before bedtime.
