On Wednesday (September 17), an ABC spokesperson said: “Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely.”
A few famous faces have slammed the decision, while President Trump celebrated it, calling it ‘Great News for America’.
And now, former US President Barack Obama has commented on the news.
In his show on Monday (September 15), the talk show host said: “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. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving,”
He then showed a clip of Trump being asked how he was doing following Kirk’s death, to which he responded: “I think very good.”
He then began talking about the construction of the White House’s ballroom, to which Kimmel joked: “He’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”
Following this news, writing on Threads, Obama shared a report about Kimmel’s show being suspended.
He said: “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.
“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”
Trump appeared to relish in the news, as he wrote: “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. “Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.
“That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”
Kimmel has yet to comment on the suspension himself.