Former Disney CEO Bob Iger has broken his silence on the company's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel from "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" following comments the late-night host made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Iger stated in an interview with the Financial Times that Disney viewed Kimmel's remarks as "in bad taste" and that the suspension was not an attempt to appease the Trump administration.
Iger explained that Kimmel was asked to apologize for the comments, made in September after Kirk's assassination. "We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment," Iger said.
Kimmel's remarks, made in September, suggested that the suspected assassin of Charlie Kirk, Tyler Robinson, was a member of the "MAGA gang." Kimmel had said, "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."
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was suspended indefinitely from Sept. 17 through Sept. 22, 2025, after the remarks.
Kimmel later defended his statements in an interview with Bloomberg, stating he did not initially perceive a significant issue and viewed some right-wing media as distorting the narrative, which he aimed to correct. He acknowledged realizing the comments were problematic when the show was pulled from the air. Kimmel also suggested that his comments were intentionally and maliciously mischaracterized and that the situation was unfair to his employers at Disney. He expressed hope that the incident would establish a clear American boundary regarding acceptable discourse.
Protests against the suspension occurred, with demonstrators, including U.S. Rep. Laura Friedman (D-CA), holding signs supporting Kimmel and decrying the decision.
