Sinclair Inc., the nation’s second-largest provider of local news, reportedly announced Monday that it would stop airing Jimmy Kimmel Live on its ABC affiliates, a decision that underscores the mounting backlash against the late-night host following his comments about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Beginning Tuesday, Sinclair stations will replace the program with news coverage. “Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” the company said in a post on X.
The move comes just days after ABC and its parent company Disney suspended Kimmel indefinitely. He is set to return to the air Tuesday, though under a cloud of controversy.
His suspension followed remarks last week in which he accused conservatives of trying to “score political points” after Kirk’s killing. Kimmel went further, mocking President Trump by saying he was mourning Kirk “the way a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
The comments prompted swift condemnation, particularly among conservatives who saw the jokes as both callous and politically charged at a moment of national grief. Nexstar Media Group, the nation’s largest provider of local news, also moved last week to preempt the comedian’s show on its ABC affiliates.
The dispute has drawn in regulators as well. Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, speaking with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, suggested that local stations should “step up and say this garbage to the extent that that’s what comes down the pipe in the future isn’t something that we think serves the needs of our local communities.”
Carr later defended Kimmel’s suspension, writing on X that broadcasters “have long retained the right to not air national programs that they believe are inconsistent with the public interest, including their local communities’ values.”
His remarks sparked criticism from Democrats and some Republicans on Capitol Hill. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, along with lawmakers including Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, voiced opposition.
A group of Senate Democrats on the Commerce, Transportation and Technology Committee went further, urging Cruz, the panel’s chairman, to call Carr to testify.
In a letter, they claimed the FCC chair had “threatened to use the regulatory power of the FCC” and demanded further explanation.
Carr rejected the charge on Monday, accusing Democrats of mounting a “campaign of projection and distortion” over the agency’s role in Kimmel’s suspension.
Disney, for its part, emphasized that its decision was meant to cool tensions rather than inflame them. In a statement to several outlets, the company said Kimmel was taken off the air to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for the country.”
For critics of Kimmel, however, the episode has laid bare what they see as a longstanding double standard in late-night comedy.
While networks have tolerated sharp and often personal attacks on conservatives, the mockery of a murdered activist and a grieving president crossed a line.
With both Sinclair and Nexstar opting to pull the program, the pressure on ABC and Disney to respond decisively is only likely to intensify.
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