Washington, Sep 18
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC), one of the major television networks in the United States, announced Wednesday that it has suspended the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" show "indefinitely" after controversial comments by its host about the conservative activist and influencer Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot last week.
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. announced in a statement that the company's owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" for the foreseeable future, beginning with Wednesday night's show.
Nexstar owns America's largest local television broadcasting group, comprising top network affiliates, with more than 200 owned or partner stations reaching 220 million people, according to its website.
"Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets," the statement read.
"Mr Kimmel's comments about the death of Mr Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located," said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar's broadcasting division.
Shortly after the release of the statement, NBC News quoted an ABC spokesman as saying that "'Jimmy Kimmel Live' will be pre-empted indefinitely."
In Monday night's monologue, Kimmel suggested that Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk's killing, could have been a pro-Trump Republican, reports Xinhua news agency.
"The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterise 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.
U.S. President Donald Trump and senior administration officials have accused the "radical left" of being responsible for the death of Kirk, while rejecting the Democrats' argument that political violence has been a problem from both sides.
In an interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson earlier Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr threatened to take action against Disney and its subsidiary ABC over the comments, noting that the FCC could consider revoking licenses of ABC affiliate stations as a penalty.
Criticising the FCC chair on the social platform X, FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the panel, said, "An inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship and control."
"This Administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression," said Gomez.
"Jimmy Kimmel Live" is one of the several nationally recognised late-night talk shows in the country.
- IANS
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