Trump predicted Jimmy Kimmel's ouster weeks before ABC suspended late night comedian: ‘Gonna be going’
WASHINGTON, DC: ABC announced on Wednesday, September 17, that it was indefinitely suspending 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!', a move that came just weeks after President Donald Trump predicted the late-night host would be “going.”
The decision followed Kimmel’s September 15 monologue, in which he criticized conservatives for exploiting the killing of activist Charlie Kirk at a Utah event.
Jimmy Kimmel under fire after remarks on Charlie Kirk’s death
Charlie Kirk, 31, was shot dead during a campus appearance at Utah Valley University. Prosecutors later charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with murder, describing him as left-leaning and accusing him of targeting Kirk for spreading hate.
Jimmy Kimmel claims "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" and "This is not how an adult… pic.twitter.com/KMhnskaYWD
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) September 16, 2025
Addressing the case on-air, Kimmel told viewers, “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.”
“This isn’t how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he called a friend,” he joked, adding, “This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish. Ok?”
Just two days later, ABC pulled the plug on Kimmel’s show after Nexstar Media Group, which operates dozens of ABC affiliates nationwide, announced it would no longer broadcast the program. Nexstar is currently awaiting Trump administration approval for a $6.2 billion merger with rival broadcaster TEGNA.
Donald Trump’s August warning about late-night hosts
The suspension appeared to validate Trump’s earlier comments in the Oval Office.
On August 6, during an exchange with Real America’s Voice correspondent Brian Glenn, Trump was asked whether the “hate Trump” business model in entertainment was failing. Glenn cited speculation that Howard Stern could be leaving Sirius XM.
Trump took the opportunity to lash out at his late-night critics, naming Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon in particular:
.@POTUS: " Colbert has no talent. I mean, I could take anybody here, I could go outside on the beautiful streets and pick up a couple of people that'd do just as well or better. They'd get higher ratings... He's got no talent. Fallen has no talent. Kimmel has no talent." 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/KC6sunMhbd
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) August 6, 2025
“Fallon has no talent. Kimmel has no talent. They’re next. They’re gonna be going. I hear they’re gonna be going,” Trump said at the time.
He also renewed his familiar attacks on Stephen Colbert, insisting the CBS host had “no talent” and “worse ratings than anyone else.”
Kimmel’s suspension comes on the heels of a wave of late-night upheaval. In July, CBS abruptly canceled 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert', only weeks after Paramount, CBS’s parent company, paid Trump $16 million to settle a defamation lawsuit. Days later, the Federal Communications Commission, led by Trump appointees, approved Paramount’s merger with David Ellison’s Skydance Media.
