We say “seemingly” off-color because that’s how the media company seemed to take the remarks after some thinly veiled threats from Washington, D.C.
The part of Kimmel’s speech that rubbed some the wrong way went like this: "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’s commentary drew outrage, most notably from Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC is the regulatory body for the country’s communications, and it is unusual to see a chair put direct, political pressure on a company like Carr did to ABC.
Just so we’re clear, this is the clip that got Jimmy Kimmel’s show shelved by ABC.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 18, 2025
If I’m missing any other clips please let me know.
This is also what Jimmy Kimmel said the day that Charlie Kirk was assassinated:
“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one… pic.twitter.com/ORSDwSYEut
"Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr threatened during a podcast on Wednesday. "These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
After Carr’s comments, Irving-based Nexstar Media Group was the first to comply with removing Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its airwaves. Nexstar currently owns 32 ABC stations around the country, but it wants to own a lot more. In August, the company announced plans for a $6.2 billion merger that would scoop up hundreds of stations across the United States, including Dallas’ ABC affiliate channel WFAA. The deal is expected to close next year.
The issue is that current FCC rules prohibit a media company from owning the airwaves in more than 39% of the country, and this purchase would put Nexstar over that threshold. It would take special permission (from an FCC chairman, for instance) for the deal to be finalized.
Shortly after Nexstar pulled Kimmel, Sinclair Broadcast Group followed suit. Sinclair owns eight stations in Texas, with Abilene and Austin channels being the closest to the DFW market. After Nexstar and Sinclair bowed to Carr's wishes, ABC issued the final blow, pulling the show for the foreseeable future. On Truth Social, President Donald Trump thanked ABC for its "courage" in shutting down Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The Hollywood Reporter published a piece last November that discussed what the second Trump Administration would likely mean for Nexstar, which emerged as the most likely media group to make a strong push for deregulation of long-standing FCC guidelines. We aren’t saying that Jimmy Kimmel is definitely the collateral damage of some TV industry quid pro quo, but it sure looks to be the case.
All said, Nexstar, the company that called Kimmel’s remarks “offensive and insensitive” and defended the decision to pull the show by saying it is “not in the public interest” to allow it to air, could soon have a significant say over the type of content that does, or doesn’t, appear on Channel 8.
