Donald Trump claims Jimmy Kimmel’s show pulled because of “bad ratings” and says he’s “not a talented person”

Donald Trump has doubled down on his criticisms of Jimmy Kimmel, claiming his late-night talk show was pulled because of “bad ratings” and that he should have been “fired a long time ago”.

Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been pulled from ABC’s programming “indefinitely” over the host’s recent comments following Charlie Kirk’s death, sparking worries around political censorship.

The right-wing activist was shot in the neck and killed at Utah Valley University campus on September 10, where he was hosting his first event as part of his America Comeback Tour. Kirk was 31 years old.

Following the shooting, Kimmel said during his Monday night monologue that all signs point to Kirk’s shooter being a Trump supporter: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterise this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

The late-night host also criticised flags being flown at half mast in honour of Kirk while the White House largely ignored the school shootings that happened on September 10, and mocked the president’s reaction to the shooting. “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a gold fish,” Kimmel said.

Kimmel’s monologue drew a number of complaints from viewers, forcing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr to seemingly threaten immediate action against Kimmel, the ABC network and its owner Disney for the comments.

Nexstar, an affiliate of ABC, then said it would be pre-empting Jimmy Kimmel Live! episodes for the foreseeable future, prompting the ABC network to pull the show indefinitely.

Trump is currently in the UK on a state visit and commented further on the incident during a news conference with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “Well, Jimmy Kimmel 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. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. So, you know, you could call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”

Trump initially celebrated the show’s axe on his platform Truth Social. “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. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.”

“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. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible.”

Trump then turned his attention to Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, whose shows have not been cancelled or suspended: “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

In response, Marc Maron hit out at the Trump administration, accusing them of censorship. Taking to Instagram, he began: “It’s happening. Jimmy Kimmel has been muzzled and taken off the air by his network ABC, who are buckling to and trying to appease the Nexstar media conglomerate who have a lot of affiliates, and they threatened to preempt him at the suggestion of the FCC chair.

Maron continued: “This is government censorship. This is the Trump administration coming after people who speak out against him. This is the end of it. If you have any concern or belief in real freedom or the Constitution and free speech, this is it. This is the deciding moment. This is what authoritarianism looks like right now. It’s happening. So if you’re a free speech warrior, or you really talk the talk about protecting free speech, this isn’t about saying the R word or the T word or any of that. This is government censorship.

“This isn’t fucking Twitter. This isn’t people getting cancelled because of a cultural pile-on. This is the United States government silencing voices that they disagree with. FCC Chair Carr put this out. This is his directive. This is the US government. Look, if they can come for Kimmel, they can come for anybody.”

Barack Obama also criticised the move. “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,” the former President wrote on X.

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. https://t.co/uts7JpJZzN

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 18, 2025

“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 it.”

The American Federation of Musicians, Directors Guild of America, IATSE and Sag Aftra have also condemned the ABC’s decision in a joint statement.

“The indefinite removal of Jimmy Kimmel Live under government pressure is not an isolated incident. It is part of a disturbing trend of increasing interference in creative expression,” the unions said.

“This kind of political pressure on broadcasters and artists chills free speech and threatens the livelihoods of thousands of working Americans.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kimmel was set to address the matter on Wednesday night’s show, but wasn’t going to apologise for his comments. He has yet to publicly comment on the show’s suspension.

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