Talk show hosts have backed Jimmy Kimmel after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live, even as Donald Trump said TV networks opposed to him should “maybe” lose their license.
On September 17, 2025, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely after its host made on-air comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. ABC axed the show after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threatened regulatory action, raising concerns the Trump administration is curtailing the free speech of its critics.
In his monologue on Monday, Kimmel said the “Maga gang” was “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and trying “everything they can” to “score political points from it.”
He also compared Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s death to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.” Kimmel had condemned the attack and sent “love” to the Kirk family following the shooting.
Jimmy Kimmel claims “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” and “This is not how an adult… pic.twitter.com/KMhnskaYWD
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 16, 2025
FCC chair Brendan Carr accused Kimmel of “the sickest conduct possible” and said networks like the Disney-owned ABC could “find ways to change conduct and take action… or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC.”
U.S. president Donald Trump has now suggested some TV networks opposed to him should have their licenses “taken away.” As reported by the BBC, Trump spoke about the issue to journalists aboard Air Force One on Thursday while returning from a state visit to the UK.
“I have read some place that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily [in last year’s election],” Trump said. “They give me only bad publicity [and] press. I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”
On Thursday’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Fallon used his monologue to express hope that Kimmel returns to television soon, although he admitted he had no idea what was going to happen to his own show.
“To be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on, and no one does,” Fallon said. “But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.”
Fallon then insisted he would continue to speak his mind on Trump, although he made a joke of it by having his true thoughts drowned out by a voiceover saying nice things about the U.S. president.
“A lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say, or that we’ll be censored, but I’m going to cover the president’s trip to the UK, just like I normally would,” Fallon began, before the bit.
@fallontonight Jimmy reacts to ABC’s decision to suspend @Jimmy Kimmel Live after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking WTF? #FallonTonight #TonightShow ♬ original sound – FallonTonight
Fallon was joined by Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, and Seth Meyers, who all spoke out against Trump and the FCC on their shows.
On The Late Show on CBS, Colbert said the U.S. was in the middle of a “free speech crisis” and criticized Carr.
“Shortly after Carr made his statements about ABC, Kimmel gets yanked off the air,” Colbert said. “This decision came after senior executives at ABC, Disney, and affiliates convened emergency meetings during which multiple execs felt that Kimmel had not actually said anything over the line, but the threat of Trump administration retaliation loomed. As one source at ABC put it, they were pissing themselves all day. On the bright side, that proves Disney is No. 1 in streaming.
“This may seem bad, but Carr was quick to reassure everyone posting, ‘While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.’ Well, you know what my community values are, buster? Freedom of speech.”
@colbertlateshow The Late Show stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his staff. #StephenColbert ♬ original sound – colbertlateshow
Other talk show hosts pretended to flatter Trump. On Late Night, Meyers joked: “His administration is pursuing a crackdown on free speech — and completely unrelated, I just want to say before we get started here, that I’ve always admired and respected Mr. Trump. I’ve always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president, an even better golfer. And if you’ve ever seen me say anything negative about him, that’s just AI.”
@poppolitic Seth Meyers responds to Kimmel firing #sethmeyers #fyp #jimmykimmel ♬ original sound – Pop Politic
Jon Stewart made a special appearance on Thursday during The Daily Show, which he usually only hosts on Mondays, to offer a sarcastic “refresher” on the rules of free speech (“White House-approved”) following Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension.
An obedient Jon Stewart offers a refresher on the rules of free speech (White House-approved) in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension pic.twitter.com/4uj18ZziNG
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) September 19, 2025
Trump supported ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel, pushed back on the idea free speech was under attack, instead pointing to ratings.
“Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk,” he told reporters. “And Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. And they should have fired him a long time ago. So you can call that free speech or not.”
Former U.S. president Barack Obama has also commented, tweeting a statement expressing concern about recent developments: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.”
Following the news, Tatiana Maslany, who played She-Hulk in the Disney+ spinoff She-Hulk: Attorney at Law for its one and only season, called for a boycott of the streamer. Meanwhile, Lost creator Damon Lindelof has vowed not to work with Disney until Jimmy Kimmel Live is reinstated on ABC.
Last week, Comedy Central pulled the scheduled repeat of a recent South Park episode following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Then, this week, Comedy Central delayed its planned new episode of South Park just hours before it was due to air. Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone issued a statement insisting the blame lay at their door.
Photo by: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
