Jimmy Kimmel taken off air over Charlie Kirk comments

ABC has pulled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off air indefinitely over comments he made about the shooting of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

"Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely," a spokesperson for the Disney-owned network said in a statement to the BBC.

In his Monday night monologue, Kimmel said the "MAGA gang" was trying to score political points off Kirk's killing.

On Tuesday, a 22-year-old suspect appeared in court charged with aggravated murder over last Wednesday's shooting of the 31-year-old conservative activist. Representatives for Kimmel did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kimmel said on Monday: "The Maga Gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it."

The late-night host also criticised flags being flown at half mast in honour of Kirk, and mocked the president's reaction to the shooting.

"This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a gold fish," Kimmel said.

Shortly after ABC announced the host had been suspended, Trump, who has criticised him on multiple occasions, said it was "great news for America".

"The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,"the president wrote in a social media post.

Trump then criticised two other late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and and Seth Myers, who he described as "two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible."

Earlier on Wednesday, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, said on a podcast that Kimmel's remarks showed "the sickest conduct possible" as he urged Disney to take action.

"[Broadcasters] have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest," said Carr, who is a Trump-appointee.

"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead," Carr told The Benny Show.

He noted that an apology from Kimmel would be a "very reasonable, minimal step".

The ABC announcement came just after one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the US, Nexstar Media, said it would not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! "for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight's show".

Nexstar said the comedian's remarks about Kirk "are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse".

"[We] do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located," said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division.

"Continuing to give Mr Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to pre-empt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue."

Following the programme's suspension, Carr thanked Nexstar "for doing the right thing" and said he hoped other broadcasters would follow its lead.

Authorities have not specified a motive in Kirk's fatal shooting on 10 September. Tyler Robinson has been charged over the killing and is facing the death penalty if convicted at trial.

Charging documents said the suspect's mother "explained that over the last year or so, Robinson had become political and started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented".

The court papers say that when the suspect's parents asked him why he had targeted Kirk, he told them the conservative activist "spreads too much hate".

Robinson was not registered to any political party and did not vote in the 2022 or 2024 elections. He was not old enough to vote in the 2020 election.