Disney executives are facing a familiar crisis regarding their favorite in-house comedian: Just how offensive must Jimmy Kimmel’s on-camera behavior be before they have to bite the bullet and fire him?
So far, Kimmel—who won a stand-off last year with Disney, which owns ABC, after his eponymous late-night comedy program was briefly suspended for making offensive comments about MAGA supporters and the murder of Charlie Kirk—has escaped the fate of conservative Disney personalities like Roseanne Barr and Mandalorian star Gina Carano, who were quickly fired after tweets that irked Disney management.
The latest flashpoint centers on a segment Jimmy Kimmel aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (the show is actually not live) on April 23. In the segment, Kimmel held a mock version of the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in which he assailed a familiar foe, President Donald Trump, before setting his sights on Melania Trump, asserting that the first lady had “a glow like an expectant widow.”
The crass remark might have fallen by the wayside—considering how increasingly vicious Kimmel’s vitriol against the Trumps has become—except that days later, Cole Tomas Allen sought to make Kimmel’s quip reality. Allen, a 31-year-old left-wing activist, planned a mass shooting at the actual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, held Saturday at the Washington Hilton.
Allen, a resident of Torrance, Calif., fired multiple shots outside the main dinner venue and was apprehended by Secret Service agents. In a manifesto, Allen said he wanted to take out Trump, whom he dubbed a “traitor,” “rapist,” and “pedophile,” along with as many Trump administration officials as possible.
On Monday, after Kimmel’s clips went viral on social media, Melania Trump issued a rare and extraordinary statement:
“Kimmel’s hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country,” she wrote. “His monologue about my family isn’t comedy- his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America.”
The first lady went on to write that, “Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand.”
Donald Trump later called on Disney and ABC to “immediately” fire Kimmel for his “despicable call to violence.” He has been denouncing Kimmel for years, pointing to—as he did on Monday—the poor ratings.
Whether Disney and ABC will do so remains to be seen. But it’s familiar territory for the media conglomerate.
Disney pulled Kimmel’s show off the air for two days in September following his remarks about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. Kimmel said that “the MAGA gang is desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” referring to Tyler Robinson, who has been charged with capital murder in Kirk’s shooting. Robinson embraced left-wing views and allegedly expressed hatred toward Kirk over his views on the transgender issue. Robinson at the time was dating a man who was in the process of transitioning to female.
FCC chairman Brendan Carr jumped into the fray, suggesting the regulatory agency could use its authority to revoke ABC’s broadcast license.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” said Carr. “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.”
Hours later, Sinclair and Nexstar, the two largest distribution networks for ABC programming, pulled Kimmel’s show from its stations. The companies, both owned by conservatives, lifted the ban amid circumstances that remain unclear.
Kimmel’s allies in Washington called the suspension an attack on “free speech.” Days later, Kimmel returned to the airwaves, though without apologizing for his inaccurate remarks about Kirk’s killer.
Not only did Kimmel win a complete victory in the “MAGA gang” affair, but in December, Disney announced that he’d signed a one-year extension and would continue on the air until at least May 2027. Kimmel jokingly remarked, on the occasion of his re-signing, “I am pleased to announce another no-talent year,” a clear reference to Trump’s frequent criticism.
The year extension came despite the collapse of the late-night daypart. Paramount, the parent company of CBS, canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, citing “financial reasons.” ABC and NBC have both reduced the shows to four nights a week (with a rerun airing on Friday) and reduced the number of musical performances to save money. Industry experts expect Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Tonight Show on NBC both to end in the next few years.
Whether Kimmel’s latest remarks provoked Allen remains unclear. But Kimmel’s anti-Trump rhetoric, a mainstay on his talk show, mirrors much of what Allen wrote in his 1,053-word manifesto.
“I am no longer willing to permit a pedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes,” wrote Allen, who donated to Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign in 2024. Kimmel has made similar remarks about Trump, calling him “a man who knows rapists.” Kimmel, who has focused frequently on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, aired a “Treason Finale” segment in January 2021 to commemorate the end of Trump’s first administration.
Kimmel and Allen have attended the anti-Trump “No Kings” rallies. Kimmel attended a rally in Torrance, Allen’s hometown, on March 28, where he posed with Sen. Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) and toted an “Enough Already” sign. According to Allen’s sister, the would-be assassin attended a “No Kings” rally in California. It is not clear if he attended the same rally as Kimmel.
Kimmel survived prior controversies perhaps thanks to both his Hollywood and Beltway connections.
Kimmel—one of the most prominent Democrats in Hollywood who is openly partisan both on his show and in his personal capacity—emceed the infamous June 2024 fundraiser for President Joe Biden in which the then-candidate reportedly “startled” Barack Obama and other attendees by his shaky performance and memory.
Kimmel’s future could come down to his relationships at Disney, which has undergone leadership changes in the eight months since his last major controversy.
Kimmel famously maintains deep ties to former Disney CEO Bob Iger—who recently retired—as well as to Dana Walden, now the second in command at Disney. Kimmel has expressed glowing admiration for Walden, saying during last year’s CEO search that “I happen to love Dana Walden very much, and I think she’s done a great job.”
Iger and Walden are deeply enmeshed in Hollywood power circles where Kimmel is a powerful figure in the entertainment business and in Democratic politics. But Iger is gone now, replaced by Disney’s parks chief, Josh D’Amaro, who was located in Orlando before he was tapped for the big job. D’Amaro’s handling of the latest Kimmel crisis could be his first big test of whether an outsider to Hollywood’s close-knit power circlers will take a stand.
Disney, Sinclair, Nexstar, and the FCC did not respond to requests for comment.
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