Jimmy Kimmel is one of the longest-running late-night TV show hosts, hosting his own namesake show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, on ABC. Throughout his 23-season-long show, Kimmel has had the opportunity to meet and interview other celebrities, celebrate moments in life and pop culture, and write his own monologues for each episode. One of his many monologues sparked the decision to remove him from the air.
On Sept. 17, Kimmel began his show as he usually does, with a monologue that expressed his opinions on contemporary events, delivered in either a serious or humorous tone. This specific live show was the one shortly after the assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk, which left a significant mark on social media and modern platforms. During this monologue, Kimmel made comments about the assassination and the response of President Donald Trump. Kimmel said that there were responses from other former presidents, including Barack Obama, Joe Biden, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.
“With all these terrible things happening, you would think that our president would at least attempt to bring us together, but he didn’t. Instead, he blamed Democrats for their rhetoric,” Kimmel’s monologue said.
Kimmel, throughout this 10-minute monologue, spoke about the national issue of gun violence, mentioning Colorado’s Evergreen High School shooting that occurred on the same day as Kirk’s assassination, Sept. 10.
“The man who told a crowd of supporters that maybe the Second Amendment people should do something about Hillary Clinton, the man who said he wouldn’t mind if someone shot through the fake news media, the man who unleashed a mob on the Capital and said Liz Chaney should face nine barrels shooting at her for supporting his opponent, blames the radical left for their rhetoric,” Kimmel said.
It was said that the show would be taken off the air indefinitely. Throughout the week, outrage was widespread across the nation. Other late-night talk show hosts decided to “speak” their truth about the subject, with Jimmy Fallon performing a skit in support of Kimmel.
“But to be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on, and no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny, and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.”
– Jimmy Fallon
Fallon also decided to poke fun at this situation with the help of a robotic voice-over, which was put over the host’s voice to shield the audience from hearing the rest of his sentence when speaking “ill” of the president. He began by saying, “Well, guys, President Trump just wrapped up his three-day trip to the UK, and he…” before the voice-over cut him off to say, “…looked incredibly handsome.” The crowd laughed at this display of Fallon’s frustration.
There was a five-day period during which Kimmel’s show was off air, and it began airing again on Sept. 23. The return was made possible because ABC’s owner, Disney, lifted the suspension to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation.” Kimmel, upon his return, addressed the situation with an emotional statement.
“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” Kimmel said. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.”
He opened his monologue by referencing other mass media news outlets that had covered his controversy and then continued with his regular coverage of modern news.
The show is now active the same way as it was on weeknights, and Kimmel has continued with his regularly scheduled programming. From here on, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will continue to run as it has for 22 years.