Jimmy Kimmel has so far refused to apologize to ABC and Disney executives as backlash over his remarks about Charlie Kirk intensifies, according to reports.
Kimmel drew criticism after his Tuesday night broadcast, where he mocked MAGA Republicans and suggested Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk’s killing, was a Trump supporter. Executives at ABC grew concerned that the comments had pulled the network and its parent company, Disney, deeper into the political firestorm surrounding Kirk’s assassination.
Talks between Kimmel and network leadership had not yet reached Disney CEO Bob Iger, but sources said executives issued an ultimatum: apologize for the remarks or face unspecified consequences.
“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,” Kimmel said during the monologue.
A “social media s**tstorm” quickly followed, an insider said, but then subsided. The controversy escalated when FCC Chairman Brendan Carr suggested in an interview that ABC could risk its broadcast license for airing politically one-sided commentary.
That’s when the fallout firestorm “became a bigger swirl,” a source told The Hollywood Reporter. Inside ABC, Kimmel participated in “multiple conversations” where executives asked, “How are you planning to address the situation and lower the temperature?”
Kimmel responded by indicating he planned to stand by his allegation and would not “kowtow” to conservative critics — a stance that sources said left network executives unsatisfied.
At the same time, major affiliates Sinclair and Nexstar, which carry Kimmel’s show across much of the country, warned ABC they intended to pull the program. Advertiser complaints further added to the pressure, said the outlet.