President Donald Trump claimed during a press conference in England with Prime Minister Keir Starmer that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel's program has been pulled off the air because of a perceived lack of talent.
Trump told reporters that Kimmel was fired 'cause he had bad ratings more than anything else and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk. And Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person, he had very bad ratings and they shoulda fired him a long time ago,' the former president said during the joint briefing in London.
Disney officials said Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely following Charlie Kirk assassination comments. The company did not provide a timetable for when the show might return to the air.
As context, Kimmel attended the 2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles on Sept. 7, 2025, underscoring that the show’s scheduling disruptions come amid other high-profile appearances by the late-night host this year. The remarks and the response from Disney add to a broader conversation about the intersection of entertainment, media and political discourse in the United States.
On the record, Trump framed his assertion as a long-running consequence of perceived ratings problems, while Disney’s decision to preempt the program signals a separate corporate action connected to controversy surrounding statements attributed to Kimmel's program.
This is a developing story, and updates are expected as more information becomes available.
