Topline
Jimmy Kimmel’s monologues on the Charlie Kirk assassination are surging in viewership on YouTube, earning the late-night host his biggest numbers on the site in months, as ABC has left up the controversial clips that prompted the network to pull his show.
Two of Kimmel’s monologues that covered the Kirk shooting, one posted to his YouTube channel on Sept. 11 and another posted Sept. 16, have earned Kimmel his biggest YouTube numbers since June, with each garnering about 3.7 million views.
The Disney-owned broadcast network pulled Kimmel’s show from the air Wednesday after some of the host’s comments from Monday night sparked controversy and was condemned by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, including Kimmel’s claim that the “MAGA gang” was “trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Kimmel’s monologues on Kirk are still available on his show’s YouTube channel, the ABC website and Kimmel’s Instagram as of Thursday morning, with his comments on Kirk still intact.
Forbes has reached out to ABC for comment.
ABC yanked Kimmel’s show off the air Wednesday as controversy over his comments on Kirk grew, leading broadcasting company Nexstar to announce it would refuse to air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on the ABC affiliates it owns. Though Nexstar did not cite specific comments, the company said in a statement Kimmel made remarks that were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.” Carr, in an appearance on conservative podcaster Benny Johnson’s show on Wednesday, criticized Kimmel and said he has an obligation to “operate in the public interest” to keep his show’s FCC license. On Thursday, Carr said Kimmel had tried to “directly mislead the American public about a significant fact” about “probably one of the most significant political events we’ve had in a long time.” Kimmel’s suspension drew rebukes from Hollywood stars and Democratic politicians, while President Donald Trump celebrated ABC for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” slamming the “ratings challenged” Kimmel as having “ZERO talent” while calling for fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers to be suspended next.
Kimmel addressed Kirk’s killing multiple times on his show, including in his Monday night monologue, in which he accused the “MAGA gang” of using Kirk’s death to score political points. After making that comment, Kimmel played a video clip of a reporter asking Trump how he is holding up following Kirk’s death, to which Trump says he is “very good” and quickly pivots to discussing his proposed White House ballroom. “This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” Kimmel said. In a monologue delivered last week, Kimmel called Kirk’s murder “senseless” and said people on “both sides of the political spectrum” had “vile” responses to his death, including those who were “cheering this, which I won’t ever understand.”
Kimmel’s suspension has drawn comparisons to CBS’s decision to axe Stephen Colbert’s late-night show, which similarly drew accusations of being influenced by the Trump administration as CBS settled a lawsuit with the president and parent company Paramount sought FCC approval for its merger with Skydance. Colbert’s monologue addressing his show’s cancellation similarly earned him his most YouTube views in years, garnering more than 11 million views.
ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel ‘Indefinitely’ After Charlie Kirk Comments: Here’s What He Said (Forbes)