Former Disney CEO Bob Iger defended the company's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel from his late-night show, stating that comments the host made following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk were "in bad taste." Iger clarified in an interview with the Financial Times that the suspension, which ran from Sept. 17 to Sept. 22, 2025, was not an attempt to appease the Trump administration.
Iger explained that Disney requested Kimmel apologize for the remarks, which were made in September. "We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment," Iger said.
Kimmel's comments came after Kirk was shot and killed while speaking at an event. The host suggested that the suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson, was a member of the "MAGA gang." Kimmel stated at the time, "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."
Following the remarks, Kimmel was suspended indefinitely. He later defended his statements in an interview, suggesting they were a correction to what he saw as distortions by right-wing media networks. Kimmel also expressed that he believed his comments were intentionally and maliciously mischaracterized, and that the situation was unfair to his employers at Disney.
White House officials, following a separate assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, had called for accountability from the media and Democratic Party, citing a normalization of rhetoric that could radicalize unstable individuals and fuel online disinformation. Karoline Leavitt, a White House official, had criticized Kimmel's "widow" joke and "despicable" comments from top Democrats as potential catalysts for violence.