Disney/ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show was suspended indefinitely in response to backlash subsequent to his statements regarding the assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, wherein he misrepresented the shooter’s motive and falsely said the shooter was MAGA. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Acela Media appear more upset about the loss of Kimmel’s show than they are about Kirk’s assassination. The story broke during the 6PM hour, and the spin started immediately. Watch Brian Stelter come on and try to gaslight the public into believing that what Kimmel said was “serious commentary”: CNN’s Brian Stelter and Jake Tapper rush to defend ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel for his comments mocking #MAGA for its reactions to Charlie Kirk’s assassination Stelter: “Kimmel was expressing what we’ve heard some other liberals say in recent days that the motives are unclear and that… pic.twitter.com/3APcZVpfBI — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 17, 2025 BRIAN STELTER: But let's back up and look at what Kimmel actually said on the program that has caused controversy. This is from Monday night in his Monday evening monologue, Kimmel suggested that the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk might have been a pro-trump Republican. He said, quote, "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." He said in between the finger pointing, there was grieving. Kimmel was expressing what we've heard some other liberals say in recent days that the motives are unclear and that maybe the suspect in this case was a Republican or was some sort of far-right fringe figure. Of course, there has been a lot of discussion about that in recent days. There's a lot of evidence pointing in other directions about the suspect, but Kimmel was on the air talking about this, making a very serious commentary amid his jokes in his monologue Monday night. Here's where it became interesting earlier today. The FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, went on a far right webcast and condemned Kimmel and urged ABC to suspend him. He also talked about possible regulatory punishments of Disney because there are lots of different stations that have licenses with the FCC. Within the past hour. We've heard from a big owner of stations that have affiliations with ABC. A company called Nexstar saying that they were going to suspend Kimmel's show on their stations. So, in other words, about two dozen stations were refusing to air Kimmel's show tonight as a result of this controversy. And then following word that some of those stations were basically revolting against Kimmel, Disney, the parent company of ABC, decided to yank the show entirely. So that's all we know at the moment. We know Kimmel will not be on the air tonight or for the foreseeable future, because the network says the show has been yanked off the air indefinitely. JAKE TAPPER: Brian, just to take one issue- your interpretation of what Kimmel said, I think is the one that Brendan Carr had and the one that the individuals at Nexstar have, but what he said specifically was, quote, "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." That can be read in several ways. That could be heard in several ways. It could also be interpreted. It could also be argued, he's saying that what the Maga Gang is doing is just trying to make sure that they don't have any ownership of it, not necessarily that that this killer, this horrible person, was part of them. I mean, I just- STELTER: I think you're making a very important point. You're making a very important point. And let's take a little bit step further. This was all on Monday night. Nobody seemed to notice this yesterday, Jake. This all erupted in the past few hours when the Trump-aligned FCC chairman decided to point at it. Now I've heard from him in the past few minutes. Brendan Carr thanking Nexstar for doing the right thing by yanking the show. He has not yet commented on ABC, yanking the show altogether across the entire country. But let's remember that when Stephen Colbert's show was canceled over the summer, what did president trump say? He said, "next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel." It is clear that pro-Trump allies have been trying to target ABC over Kimmel for several weeks now, and tonight they've prevailed.  TAPPER: Yeah, Brian Stelter. Thanks so much for that breaking news. Sure, Kimmel was "expressing what we've heard some other liberals say in recent days." But that's precisely the problem, no? Kimmel joining those other liberals in suggesting, without evidence that the shooter was some MAGA diehard, despite a mountain of evidence to the contrary- including the evidence contained in the probable cause affidavit released on Monday before Kimmel came on the air.  Over at MSNBC, legal contributor and former Mueller attack dog Andrew Weissman bemoaned Kimmel's suspension and likened it to McCarthyism: MSNBC analyst and former Mueller probe prosecutor Andrew Weissman compares on ABC suspending ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ indefinitely and CBS axing ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ to....you guessed it....McCarthyism! pic.twitter.com/cqxxDX7GnL — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 18, 2025 ANDREW WEISSMANN: So I'm going to tell you a very quick story when I had lunch with my parents and I asked them about the McCarthy era- the Joseph McCarthy era, and I said, "compare that, living through that and living through Trump 1.0." And they said that- that 1.0 was better because at least then there were people speaking up and you didn't feel alone, and that there was a real sense of the First Amendment and you weren't terrified. And it wasn't this idea of silencing. And that is the thing that we talked about on this show and we've talked about before, is that that- that slipping into the use of fear and the levers of power to recapitulate a really hideous point in our history in the 1950s with the Red Scare and what was done to people in Hollywood, in academia, in government. And that is the concern, is that you're going to see that kind of silence that is being used through government power. ARI MELBER: Yeah. And as you remind everyone, that was a dark period where they did get away with a lot. Some of it was- was found to be unlawful and unconstitutional over time. And eventually there- there was progress. But after a lot of lives and careers were ruined. And again, as you, as you mentioned, focused on entertainment and culture in addition to dissidents and civil rights organizers because it reached people. So this is quite a signal- quite a big development here.  Chris Hayes weighed in as well, with an equal measure of histrionics:  MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on ABC suspending Jimmy Kimmel: “[T]his is just the latest chapter in Donald Trump's ongoing campaign to crack down on free speech, dominate the media, and essentially render the First Amendment meaningless. An extreme campaign that has been on overdrive the… pic.twitter.com/LHZQBeyoK5 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 18, 2025 CHRIS HAYES: And this is just the latest chapter in Donald Trump's ongoing campaign to crack down on free speech, dominate the media, and essentially render the First Amendment meaningless. An extreme campaign that has been on overdrive the past week. I mean, just yesterday you had the deputy attorney general of these United States, the number two in the Department of Justice and the former criminal lawyer for the president suggesting using criminal anti-racketeering laws, the kind of things used for mobsters, RICO statutes to go after and prosecute protesters who heckled Donald Trump at a restaurant, who yelled at him. We're also getting new reports. Today, The White House plans to target a variety of left leaning groups and nonprofits in the coming weeks, all part of a larger and more dangerous effort underway. And it follows a playbook we have seen successfully run in recent years by authoritarian strongmen in places like Hungary and Turkey and Russia, because in those places they did just not- they didn't just criminalize speech they didn't like, though some of them did some of that. Crucially, they made it virtually impossible to see and hear examples of that speech by taking de facto control of the media landscape. Back to CNN, where they put Jeffrey Toobin and his visible hands on for a defense of Kimmel: Jeffrey Toobin has his hands in his pants on CNN right now over Kimmel being cancelled: "They manufactured a reason to get Jimmy Kimmel out of something that is hardly a dramatic departure from what a lot of people are saying." pic.twitter.com/ecDGtfquoV — Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 18, 2025 JEFFREY TOOBIN: This is- I mean, of all things to be offended by, you know, the- I heard a lot more offensive things said in the aftermath of this terrible, awful event than that. And it just shows they are looking for reasons to get Jimmy Kimmel and they they manufactured one out of something that is, you know, hardly a dramatic departure from what lots of people are saying. The "many people are saying" defense of defamatory speech is something else. Stay loose, Toobin!  Anderson Cooper focused most of his show on the Kimmel suspension, as if it were a national security event. Congressman Dan Goldman (D-NY) weighed in on both the Kimmel suspension and on President Trump designating Antifa as a Major Terrorist Organization: New York Democrat Daniel Goldman objects to President Trump naming Antifa a terrorist organization, claiming they DO NOT EXIST and that Trump is soiling Charlie Kirk’s memory.... “Well, I hope he can first define what Antifa is, because there is no Antifa organization. So maybe… pic.twitter.com/eBNJTEFN35 — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) September 18, 2025 DAN GOLDMAN: Well, I hope he can first define what Antifa is, because there is no Antifa organization. So maybe that's good for social media. But it really has- is nonexistent. But the point is that he's using the Charlie Kirk murder as a pretext to go after people that he disagrees with. He, on the very night of Kirk's murder, you will remember, accused the left of committing the murder when the murder had not even been caught or identified. This is all a pretext and it is a shame. I think, as Rahm said, that Charlie Kirk actually stood for free speech. And instead, they're using his memory to attack free speech. The smugness is vintage Goldman, who seems angrier at the Trump administration's designation of Antifa as a terror organization than at a political assassination on American soil.  If there is a consistent theme to coverage of l'affaire Kimmel as sampled above, it is to mourn it as this broad, McCarthyite assault on the First Amendment. The reality is that the show was ripe for cancellation, as was Colbert's before him due to it losing money, and the despicable remarks subsequent to the Kirk assassination provided Disney with a dignified offramp.  

ABC’s summary suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! over the host’s callous remarks regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk quickly became the top story across the insular Acela Media. CNN’s NewsNight with Abby Phillip was no exception. The panel discussion was devoted almost entirely to the issue of whether the suspension is the result of market forces and the unsustainability of the late-night talk show model, or outright corporate censorship.    .@ScottJenningsKY: Do I defend Jimmy Kimmel going on TV and saying a shooter from the left...he has a right to do so but he does not have the right to have a television show where he lies his ass off to the American people and attacks half this country on a nightly basis. pic.twitter.com/S3Hihn94Zc — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) September 18, 2025 SCOTT JENNINGS: You use the phrase “propaganda”, professor. And I just have to ask you, what do you consider what Jimmy Kimmel was doing every night, or what Stephen Colbert was doing by having on only Democratic guests? Jimmy Kimmel Monday night flat lied about the shooter back in the spring. He egged his audience on in cheering on the violence against and wanting kind of wishing, I think, the downfall of a publicly traded company, Tesla. Do you consider that to be propaganda? Is it good for a business?  JEFF JARVIS: Do you consider that to be free speech, Scott? JENNINGS: You use the phrase propaganda. JARVIS: I'm asking you. You used the words free speech before. Do you consider that free speech? JENNINGS: I consider it to be speech. And he's obviously free to say it. JARVIS: Are you willing to defend that speech? In this country that defends- that will defend to the death the speech of others. Will you defend Jimmy Kimmel's speech? JENNINGS: Do I defend Jimmy Kimmel going on television and saying that a shooter from the left... JARVIS: Do you defend the right to do so? JENNINGS: he has a right to do so but he does not have the right to have a television show where he lies his ass off to the American people and attacks half this country on a nightly basis. ABBY PHILLIP: Well, hold on- whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa This was in response to liberal professor Jeff Jarvis bemoaning that the legacy media is either dying or being bought up by rapacious billionaires and turned into propaganda outlets. And Jennings let Jarvis have it, with a question that he was ultimately unable to answer before Abby Phillip stepped in with the cutoff save. What is late night TV these days if not liberal propaganda? It certainly isn’t Carson or Leno doing middle-of-the-road bipartisan humor (Letterman was always a lib). This new crop of hosts turned late night into a hyperpartisan refuge for Democrats. And so there should be no surprise or sympathy when a corporate parent decides to pull the plug on, in this case, Kimmel’s show when the model is hemorrhaging money.  Once a public interest was established, Jarvis tried to pin Jennings down and ask him whether he thinks he should be kicked off the network for violating that standard. Here, again, Jennings shuts him down: .@ScottJenningsKY: I expect to get fired every day. This is a tough business. And if I were Jimmy Kimmel, I mean, I'm surprised that a guy who once wore blackface and caused large-breasted women to jump on trampolines lasted this long in the media business to begin with. He was… pic.twitter.com/NduF2PD5Pv — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) September 18, 2025 JARVIS: Scott. Scott. I'm not going to tell you anything you don't know here. You sometimes offend people. I hear about it on the socials. Do you think that you should then be held to the same standard that you're asking for, that if someone says that you're offensive, that you're not doing civic discourse, that CNN should kick you off? I'm not worried about you and that happening to you in the present regime, but I am worried about other people in this building. JENNINGS: Two things. We're not- we don't fall under the same statutory regime, A. B: I expect to get fired every day. This is a tough business. And if I were Jimmy Kimmel, I mean, I'm surprised that a guy who once wore blackface and caused large-breasted women to jump on trampolines lasted this long in the media business to begin with. He was long past his sell-date, and the fact that he couldn't realize that and was going down this road of partisan hackery, being unfunny and demonizing half the country is wild. Jennings recognizes more readily than most that the entertainment industry is ephemeral, which Jarvis did not expect to hear. And then Jennings makes the case for Kimmel being gone long ago. Kimmel’s Man Show antics were certainly cancellation fodder during the Me Too era, but yet he survived. And rather than gaining humility, Kimmel was emboldened to go on this political path.  It is not clear whether Kimmel will return to television. On tonight’s ThunderDome, Jennings made a compelling market-based argument against that.  

The ramifications of Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension are far-reaching and cannot yet be fully assessed. One consequence looks to be particularly painful.  In a press release Sinclair makes clear that, as the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group, they will not return Jimmy Kimmel Live! to air unless certain conditions are met. Per the release: Sinclair’s ABC stations will air a special in remembrance of Charlie Kirk this Friday, during Jimmy Kimmel Live’s timeslot. The special will also air across all Sinclair stations this weekend. In addition, Sinclair is offering the special to all ABC affiliates across the country. Sinclair will not lift the suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability. Sinclair also calls upon Mr. Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family. Furthermore, we ask Mr. Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA. One only imagines what went through Kimmel’s mind upon discovering that his newly available timeslot will be given over to a special honoring the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk. The apology and donation conditions are a painful blow as well, and while it is unclear whether Kimmel’s show will return to ABC, it is crystal clear that he’s not coming back to Sinclair air unless these conditions are met. All Kimmel had to do was proffer some harmless expression of concern and sympathy to the family. Or, he could’ve said nothing. Instead, he chose to spread baseless theories about the shooter despite a body of publicly available evidence to the contrary. Free speech is and remains free, but one is never exempt from any consequences that may follow. Kimmel is learning about that the painful way.  

Anchor Leland Vittert pointed a giant mirror at the left on Tuesday’s edition of NewsNation’s On Balance. While the mainstream media has tried to deny a connection between suspect Tyler Robinson’s political leanings and his alleged murder of Charlie Kirk last week, Vittert was unafraid to point out the bias that stained their coverage. Vittert started with ABC’s Matt Gutman, featuring MRC’s clip of him gushing over Robinson’s love life: “If this wasn't so serious, it would be like parody. But this is that serious, and that is where ABC News views these text messages: They were touching.” Gutman has since apologized, now calling Robinson’s texts “disturbing.” The aftermath of Kirk’s death has led to the recognition of a heated political climate, a mutual disavowing of political violence, and a need for both sides to “come together.” But the left has been unwilling to admit to Robinson’s beliefs potentially playing a significant part in Kirk’s killing: For the past week, much of the media has held out the fallacy that the shooter wasn't a left-wing loon. You couldn't call him a left-wing assassin. We did on the show a few times and people would scream at us. Our guests would. You couldn't say he was motivated by trans-rights. We saw other networks go from saying, “We don't know a motive,” to “Let's take politics out of this,” to, “Well, actually, he was inspired by the right.” Vittert then featured a montage of various moments (including more clips popularized by NewsBusters) from CBS, CNN, and ABC where the existence of Robinson’s motive was doubted or attributed to the right. And he could have included many more. He also highlighted one of the most blatant attempts at a biased cover-up: “That last clip, where CNN couldn't figure out if it was clear, came moments after the press conference that clearly laid out the shooter's beliefs in his own words. And people at CNN are still trying to deny it.” Time will tell how long the likes of CNN will be able to keep up their disingenuous coverage of the suspect in custody. Hopefully, the prosecution will be able to prove Robinson’s beliefs, motive, and actions beyond a reasonable doubt.     Lastly, Vittert included a ghostly clip from Kirk’s appearance on Bill Maher’s podcast, Club Random: KIRK: We have different to jihadis that want to kill me? The purple haired, jihadis. The woke guys. MAHER: They want to kill me. Want to kill me just as bad. They really do. KIRK: No, you've been very outspoken on the woke stuff. MAHER: Oh yes, I mean – and they – Just the way within a religion, they hate their own apostates more. I would say they hate me more because I'm supposed like get on a short bus to crazy town with them. A high profile figure like Kirk can be no stranger to death threats, so much so that the common kind of agitator is easily identifiable. Don’t expect to hear about those threatening right-wing leaders right now. Unlike many television characters during the past week, Vittert actually offered a tangible solution to the political violence epidemic: Crazy town is killing people because you disagree with them or because you expose them. And the only way to stop that is to do what we do every night on this program. Very simple. Tell the truth. Keep telling it, Vittert. Kick the crazy out of town, and we’ll see who’s still left around. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: NewsNation’s On Balance with Leland Vittert September 16, 2025 9:01:40 p.m. Eastern LELAND VITTERT: We can now conclusively say Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin acted on the deeply irresponsible rhetoric of the left. That is our Why It Matters segment tonight. (…) 9:03:40 p.m. VITTERT: If this wasn't so serious, it would be like parody. But this is that serious, and that is where ABC News views these text messages: They were touching. For the past week, much of the media has held out the fallacy that the shooter wasn't a left-wing loon. You couldn't call him a left-wing assassin. We did on the show a few times and people would scream at us. Our guests would. You couldn't say he was motivated by trans-rights. We saw other networks go from saying, “We don't know a motive,” to “Let's take politics out of this,” to, “Well, actually, he was inspired by the right.” (…) 9:04:46 p.m. VITTERT: Yeah, it is crystal clear what happened here. That last clip, where CNN couldn't figure out if it was clear, came moments after the press conference that clearly laid out the shooter's beliefs in his own words. And people at CNN are still trying to deny it. One of the saddest parts of this story is that the motive was entirely predictable. In fact, Charlie Kirk himself predicted someone harboring these views would try to kill him. This is a clip of him with Bill Maher back in April. [Cuts to video] CHARLIE KIRK: We have different to jihadis that want to kill me? The purple haired, jihadis. The woke guys. BILL MAHER: They want to kill me. Want to kill me just as bad. They really do. KIRK: No, you've been very outspoken on the woke stuff. MAHER: Oh yes, I mean – and they – Just the way within a religion, they hate their own apostates more. I would say they hate me more because I'm supposed like get on a short bus to crazy town with them. [Cuts back to live] VITTERT: That's a scary bus to be on. At the time it sounded funny, from Maher. Now, quite literally, it is deadly serious. Crazy town is killing people because you disagree with them or because you expose them. And the only way to stop that is to do what we do every night on this program. Very simple. Tell the truth. (…)

CNN’s The Lead happened to be on-air as word came that ABC had suspended liberal late-night host Jimmy Kimmel indefinitely following conspiratorial and vile remarks Monday mocking President Trump and conservatives for mourning last week’s assassination of Charlie Kirk. Before CNN went nearly wall-to-wall with coverage as though there had been a mass shooting, host Jake Tapper and chief media analyst Brian Stelter leapt to his defense. Stelter went first and noted it was these comments that landed him hot water:   Having set the table, he began to spin by insisting Kimmel was merely “expressing what we’ve heard some other liberals say in recent days that the motives are unclear and that maybe the suspect in this case was a Republican or was some sort of far-right fringe figure.”     “Of course, there has been a lot of discussion about that in recent days. There’s a lot of evidence pointing in other directions about the suspect, but Kimmel was on the air talking about this, making a very serious commentary amid his jokes,” Stelter added. Stelter floated what’s become a dominant narrative that a conspiracy was afoot as FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr told “a far-right webcast” (Benny Johnson) hours ago that “Disney needs to see some changes here” and “[w]e can do this the easy way or the hard way” with “companies...find[ing] ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” After Stelter pointed out local TV conglomerate Nexstar had stepped up and said their ABC affiliates (which there are over 30) wouldn’t air Kimmel, Tapper insisted Kimmel’s comments “can be read in several ways.” Stelter huffed this came on the heels of CBS saying in July it’d cancel The Late Show with Stephen Colbert come May 2026 and concluded “[i]t is clear that pro-Trump allies have been trying to target ABC over Kimmel for several weeks now, and tonight they’ve prevailed.” Tapper then brought in his political panel. Thankfully, moderate Republican and legal guest Joseph Moreno burst Tapper’s bubble about the divisive state of late-night comedy:   Tapper became incensed Moreno invoked Kimmel’s distasteful declaration Trump was mourning Kirk like a four-year-old grieves for a goldfish. The thin-skinned CNN host insisted Kimmel did not do anything of the sort:   Moments later, Tapper furthered seethed this was “actually cancel culture” and found common cause with progressive strategist Chuck Rocha’s apocalyptic talk:   After playing only the “MAGA gang” soundbite, Tapper took a pot shot at Fox News: “Now, the way that Fox covered what he just said, there was, Kimmel suggests Kirk assassin was one of the MAGA gang despite reports of leftist leanings. I don’t know that I think that that is an accurate description, but they have the First Amendment to write what they want to write.” Moreno received another chance to deliver a reality check, arguing “I don’t think ABC is canceling him because they’re afraid of the FCC. I think they’re afraid that they’re going to lose whatever audience he has left, because that’s such an offensive thing.” He continued by citing a great thing called the marketplace and noted Kimmel has the freedom to go somewhere else: [T]here’s so much media alternatives at this point. So I think the FCC’s — the range of authority they have is less and less because there are so many other outlets to — to reach out to. So if Kimmel wants to reappear somewhere else, he will. I think the point is, though, that again, when you alienate a part of the population who at some point just stops watching, then you have no incentive to keep whatever left of that audience as there is. And then, you know, it just kind of goes down the drain. Of course, this didn’t sit well with Tapper. As he’s prone to do when liberals state something controversial or incendiary, Tapper engages in grade-school whataboutism by invoking President Trump’s conduct (click “expand”):     TAPPER: Let me ask you a question. Do you think that we are holding late-night comedians to a standard for speech and decency, that we do not hold our elected leaders, including the President of the United States, to. MORENO: I guess, who’s we? I mean, you’re talking about audience watchers or American citizens? TAPPER: The American — the American people, the — the government of the of the United States, as of now. Are we demanding that our late night comedians behave in a more upright and more conciliatory, insensitive way than we demand that our President act? MORENO: Well, I think it’s not so much demanding. It’s — if you don’t like what Kimmel saying, you turn it off. If you don’t like what Trump is doing, you don’t vote for him. So I think that’s the power you have. And so I don’t know that there’s any kind of. TAPPER: But we’re not turning off Jimmy Kimmel. There’s being pressure applied to have him canceled. MORENO: That’s ABC’s choice though. They don’t have to cancel him. ROCHA: But they feel the heat. That’s why they do it. Everybody who gets in the line of fire of this administration feels the heat. And they’re like, whoa, whoa whoa whoa. We don’t want any heat here. This is the big boys. And they all back down. To see the relevant CNN transcript from September 17, click here.