Washington Examiner Chief Political Correspondent Byron York called ABC’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air “a market response” and criticized Jimmy Kimmel for a “reckless” and “libelous” joke related to conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
“In this case, the market is speaking,” York said. “Making a joke — any joke — about this assassination at this time is incredibly reckless, and making one based on a libelous falsehood is even worse,” York said Wednesday on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle.
ABC pulled late-night host Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air “indefinitely” following backlash over comments he made days after Kirk’s death.
The move marks a significant shift in the late-night television landscape and has drawn attention to what critics say is a long-overdue reckoning with the tone of political comedy.
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“There have been two assassination attempts on Trump and now the killing of Charlie Kirk,” York said. “This is a serious moment, a serious presidency, and these comedians are failing to grapple with that.”
Kimmel’s comments, which suggested that those on the Right are “desperately” trying to distance themselves from the political motivations of Kirk’s alleged killer, ignited a firestorm.
“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,” Kimmel said on his broadcast on Monday.
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Sinclair is one of the nation’s largest broadcast companies and owns several ABC-affiliate stations, which gives it the influence to pressure ABC to take action. This resulted in the suspension of Kimmel’s show. Sinclair is also known for being a conservative-leaning television station operator.
While Sinclair and Nexstar own several ABC affiliates, ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Company.
In addition to pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely, Sinclair also called on the network to do more and on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family. The company also plans to air a special on Kirk on Friday during Kimmel’s time slot.
As of Thursday morning, neither ABC nor Kimmel has issued an official statement addressing the controversy.
