On Monday, Sep.15, 2025, during his monologue at the start of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC, Jimmy Kimmel spoke about the Republican Party’s reaction to conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said in “Episode 8, Season 24”.
The response to his monologue was immediate. Within 14 hours, clips from Kimmel’s monologue on YouTube had garnered upward of 15 million views, and social media platforms such as X were overflowing with opinions on the matter. Additionally, Walt Disney Company, ABC’s parent broadcasting network, was criticized publicly by the Trump administration, with Chairman Brendan Carr of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) threatening legal action.
Following these comments and additional pressure from conservative political leaders, ABC (Disney) suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely on Wednesday, Sep.17, 2025.
Disney was promptly backlashed for the action, with celebrities and political figures, including former president Barack Obama, expressing their disapproval in the form of a letter, which over 400 people signed in support of Kimmel.
“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,” Obama posted on X.
Actress and Comedian Wanda Sykes, who was booked to come on the show on Wednesday, voiced her dissent for the part that the Trump administration played in the whole ordeal.
“So let’s see, [President Donald Trump] didn’t end the Ukraine War or solve Gaza within his first week. But he did end freedom of speech within his first year,” Sykes posted on Instagram.
Additionally, people boycotted Disney programming and protested outside of the company buildings in Burbank, California and the ABC headquarters in New York City.
It is unclear whether these actions, or demands from investors, forced Disney to reverse its decision. However, on Sep. 26, 2025, nine days after suspension, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” returned to air.
Kimmel’s highly anticipated monologue was tear-jerking. He thanked people for their support over the past week and a half and also shed light on the impacts of censorship in the media, stating that his show is only one of the many examples seen today.
“The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke,” Kimmel said in “Episode 10, Season 24”. “And it’s not just comedy. He’s gunning for our journalists, too. He’s suing them. He’s bullying them…[The Trump administration] wants to pick and choose what the news is.”
At the end of the day, freedom of speech is one of the most crucial rights of people in America. It sets us apart from societies in which people are prosecuted for speaking out, and it is a major driving factor for living here. Without our individual freedoms, we are no better than the dystopian societies found in books and on screen.
Moreover, the comment that Kimmel made was not targeted towards the death of Kirk, but the reaction of the Republican Party.
Vice President JD Vance publicly stated that the “incredibly destructive movement of left-wing extremism” was the leading cause of the shooting, while Trump was quick to blame the “radical-left lunatics”. However, the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, grew up in a heavily conservative household and supported President Donald Trump ahead of the 2020 election. Furthermore, Robinson is a registered nonpartisan voter (not affiliated with any political party), which raises doubt about a political motivation behind the killing.
Regardless of your stance on the death of Kirk, turning this tragedy into a political argument is sick. Kirk was an avid supporter of free speech, and although he might not have agreed with Kimmel’s stance on many things, their views aligned on that matter.
