US President Donald Trump on Thursday attributed ABC ’s decision to indefinitely suspend " Jimmy Kimmel Live !" to poor ratings, calling it the biggest reason behind the move.
“Jimmy Kimmel was fired (show taken off air) because he had bad ratings, more than anything else,” Trump said in London during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Disney’s ABC pulled the late-night show off air on Wednesday, two days after Kimmel — a vocal Trump critic — referenced the recent assassination of conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk in his opening monologue.
Also Read | ‘Great news for America’: Donald Trump mocks Jimmy Kimmel as ‘zero talent’; praises ABC for axe
Trump continued: "He (Kimmel) said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk. Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person - they should have fired him a long time ago. You can call that free speech or not, (but) he was fired for lack of talent."
ABC’s decision to suspend the show followed remarks from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, who warned of “consequences” for affiliates that continued to air the programme.
“I think it’s past time these affiliates push back... and say, ‘Listen, we’re not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we’re running the possibility of license revocation from the FCC,’” Carr said on a podcast.
He added, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Kimmel has hosted the late-night show since 2003, which is currently in its 24th season.
“Jimmy Kimmel was fired (show taken off air) because he had bad ratings, more than anything else,” Trump said in London during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
.@POTUS: "@jimmykimmel was fired because he had bad ratings, more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk... Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person... and they should've fired him a long time ago." pic.twitter.com/4PVhcHkIzr
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 18, 2025
Disney’s ABC pulled the late-night show off air on Wednesday, two days after Kimmel — a vocal Trump critic — referenced the recent assassination of conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk in his opening monologue.
Also Read | ‘Great news for America’: Donald Trump mocks Jimmy Kimmel as ‘zero talent’; praises ABC for axe
Trump continued: "He (Kimmel) said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk. Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person - they should have fired him a long time ago. You can call that free speech or not, (but) he was fired for lack of talent."
ABC’s decision to suspend the show followed remarks from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, who warned of “consequences” for affiliates that continued to air the programme.
“I think it’s past time these affiliates push back... and say, ‘Listen, we’re not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we’re running the possibility of license revocation from the FCC,’” Carr said on a podcast.
He added, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Kimmel has hosted the late-night show since 2003, which is currently in its 24th season.
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