Fury as Jimmy Kimmel show suspended 'indefinitely' after on-air comments about Charlie Kirk assassination

A spokesperson for the Disney-owned network revealed the show would be "pre-empted indefinitely" following remarks made on a broadcast earlier this week.

During his opening monologue on Monday, Kimmel said the "MAGA gang" was trying to score political points from Kirk's killing.

"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," he said.

Tyler Robinson, 22, appeared in court on Tuesday charged with aggravated murder over last week's shooting of the 31-year-old political activist.

Kimmel, 57, also compared Donald Trump's reaction to the shooting to "how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish".

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The comedian, who has regularly poked fun at the US president on his show, also used his opening speech to criticise flags being flown at half mast in Kirk's honour.

He offered no comment after he emerged from the Los Angeles television studio shortly after ABC's announcement.

Fans of the show were outraged by the decision, with some queuing up outside the studio to protest the temporary cancellation.

Kimmel had condemned the attack on Kirk earlier, sending "love" to his family via Instagram.

No motive has been determined in Kirk's fatal shooting, but charging documents show the suspect's mother "explained that over the last year or so, he had become political and started to lean more to the left – becoming more pro-gay and trans-rights oriented".

Robinson was not registered to any political party and did not vote in the 2020 or 2024 elections, authorities say.

Shortly after Kimmel's axing, Trump - who has openly criticised cancel culture in the past - called the move "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," he wrote in a social media post.

Fellow talk show hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers also felt the wrath of the president's words, being described as: "two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible."

It is not the first time Trump and Kimmel have engaged in a war of words. Last year, the TV star read aloud Trump's scathing review of his hosting performance while on stage in the middle of presenting the Oscars.

Kimmel had also enraged the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with Monday's monologue.

Brendan Carr, the head of the US communications regulator, called on Disney to pull the presenter after he had shown "the sickest conduct possible".

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

But The Writers Guild of America (WGA), Hollywood's labour union, said the decision to take Kimmel off air was a violation of constitutional free speech rights.

"Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth," it said in a statement.

The move was also slammed by union Sag-Aftra, who said it was a "type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone's freedoms".

Nexstar Media, one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the US, announced on Wednesday it would not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! "for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight's show".

Bosses at the broadcaster said Kimmel's remarks were "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.

An ABC source stressed that Kimmel had not been fired and network chiefs bosses intended to speak to him about what he should say when he goes back on air.