Jimmy Kimmel Live pulled off air indefinitely Charlie Kirk comments

Controversial late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel has been pulled off the air 'indefinitely' by ABC over his divisive comments regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk. 

The veteran host's Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be removed from the network 'for the foreseeable future,' a spokesperson announced on Wednesday. 

This drastic move comes after Kimmel, 57, falsely insinuated that the man accused of killing Kirk, Tyler Robinson, 22, was a conservative. 

Instead, investigators say Robinson held far-left ideologies and was dating his transgender roommate.

Kimmel was reportedly set to address his remarks on his show Wednesday night, before he received news that he had been axed, according to Deadline. 

He is now said to be livid over the sudden change of plans. 

The television personality's remarks had caught instant flak from Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, who told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson earlier on Wednesday that he was considering an investigation into Kimmel and his network ABC for his claims. 

'When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,' Carr told Johnson.

'As you've indicated, there are avenues here for the FCC, so there... are some ways in which I need to be a little bit careful because we could be called ultimately to be a judge on some of these claims that come up,' Carr said.

Following the news of Kimmel's cancelation, Carr told Fox News' Sean Hannity that he was simply 'suffering the consequences' of his actions.

He accused the networks of subsidizing late night talk shows, and said that the FCC expects them 'to broadly serve the public interests' as he faces an internal divide at the agency - which is leaving him and his former protege Nathan Simington trying to curry favor with President Donald Trump.

'I'm very glad to see that America's broadcasters are standing up to serve the interest of their community,' Carr said, after arguing that late night hosts are 'enforcing a very narrow political ideology.' 

Kimmel's comments about Robinson came during his Monday night monologue.

'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,' the host said. 

Kirk, 31, had been shot and killed at Utah Valley University on September 10 - in front of an audience of 3,000 horrified spectators - Kimmel reacted to his death online. 

Shortly after the shooting, Kimmel wrote on social media: 'Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?' Kimmel wrote.

'On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.'

But he appeared to change his tune before his monologue on Monday. 

Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been a network staple for more than 22 years. 

In response to Kimmel's remarks, Carr floated the idea of suspending the host - one of several prospective 'remedies' for the situation, he said. 

At one point, Johnson asked Carr what kind of action he thought should be taken, proposing an on-air apology from Kimmel.

'I think what you said there strikes me as a very reasonable, minimal step that can be taken,' Carr replied. 

ABC's decision to pull the show came shortly after its affiliate group, Nexstar, also announced it would stop airing it effective immediately. 

'Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets,' the company wrote on Wednesday. 

Nexstar’s broadcasting division President Andrew Alford blasted Kimmel's comments as 'offensive and insensitive.'

In reaction to Nextstar's move to axe Kimmel, both Johnson and Carr posted celebratory sentiments on X.  

'Great job @NXSTMediaGroup. Thank you for standing up for Charlie,' Johnson wrote.

The largest station group in the country has a major merger proposal before the Trump administration - its proposed acquisition of Tegna - which must be approved by Carr.

If the merger were to go through, Nexstar would have 265 stations in 44 states and the District of Columbia, representing 80 percent of US television households, according to Deadline. 

Another major merger between Paramount and Skydance had been criticized by fellow late night television host Stephen Colbert just days before CBS announced it was canceling his show.

'The President’s FCC is forcing their perceived critics off the airwaves,' the Democratic Party said following the news of Kimmel's cancelation on Wednesday.

'This is a chilling attack on the freedom of speech our founders enshrined in the Constitution. This should alarm all Americans—regardless of political party.'

But others found the cancelation to be justified, with former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly saying he found Kimmel's remarks 'inexplicable.'

'He had to know on Monday in his dialogue how raw the country was over this assassination,' O'Reilly told News Nation's Chris Cuomo, asking how no producers flagged the monologue.

'This isn't about censorship,' he continued. 'This is about responsibility and as you pointed out, correctly, every corporation has a responsibility to make sure the product it's selling is an honest product.'  

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also said Kimmel's ouster is a 'rare example of accountability in legacy media.'

'That ABC actually did something about Kimmel's lies is surprising,' he posted on X.

President Donald Trump even called the late night show's cancelation 'great news for America' as he called for the firing of Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon as well.

'Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,' he wrote on his Truth Social platform. 'Kimmel has ZERO talent and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that's possible.'

'That leaves Jimmy [Fallon] and Seth [Meyers], two total losers on Fake News NBC,' the president continued. 

'Their ratings are also horrible,' he said.