A sign is displayed outside the El Capitan Entertainment Center in Hollywood where “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The show will be taped the first night the show returns to the ABC lineup on September 23, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Mario Tama Getty Images
President Donald Trump is renewing the calls this week DisneyABC’s owner will pull comedian Jimmy Kimmel out of another late-night TV test amid the Republican president’s second term.
While it’s not the first time Kimmel has faced problems with his talk show — his show was put on hold in September after broadcasters threatened to disrupt the show following comments on the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk — the renewed challenges now come under newly installed Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, who took over last month.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump called on ABC to fire the late-night host after he referred to the First Lady as a “widow-in-waiting” during a comedy sketch last week, days before the alleged assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Melania Trump said in a post on X that Kimmel’s comments were “hateful and violent speech” and “intended to divide our country.” Shortly after, Trump posted on his Public Truth forum that Kimmel’s comments amounted to “calling for violence” and “far from pale.”
In a subsequent interview on Monday night, Kimmel addressed the incident, saying the speech was “a joke about their age difference.” He added that “it was not, by any definition, a kill call. And they know that.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said Kimmel should be “shunned” for repeating that joke instead of doing the honorable thing by apologizing.
Disney representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Political pressure is mounting
The incident is the latest in a series of battles between Trump and legacy media — particularly late-night TV — that have left the industry in a tailspin.
Back in September, the owners of the broadcasting stations Nextstar again Sinclair they said they would undermine Kimmel’s show, airing some content during his time, after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr took issue with Kimmel’s comments about Kirk.
Representatives of Nextstar again Sinclair declined to comment on Kimmel’s latest comments.
Carr in September suggested that broadcast stations’ licenses were at risk of being revoked, sparking debate over First Amendment protections and the responsibility of national broadcasters like ABC to broadcast generally acceptable content.
Disney brought Kimmel’s late-night show back to air a few days after the cancellation, and Kimmel apologized for the comments on his original show.
But the back-and-forth could serve as a precedent if the Trump administration continues to put pressure on media firms.
On Tuesday, Semafor reported that the FCC is preparing to review Disney’s broadcast licenses, but cited a source who said the timing was unrelated to Kimmel’s monologue. Representatives for the FCC and Disney did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the report.
Last year, ImportantCBS-owned CBS has announced it will end “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” while the company awaits FCC approval for its merger with Skydance. The merger got the green light from regulators shortly after the announcement.
While Disney has said it has no plans for mergers or acquisitions in the near term, there have been a few run-ins with the Trump administration.
In December 2024, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to Trump’s future presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by the President against the network and attorney George Stephanopoulos.
Last year, ABC News also severed ties with national correspondent Terry Moran after Trump and White House senior adviser Stephen Miller had a “global feud” on the social network.
