Jimmy Kimmel dug in his heels Thursday after getting axed by Disney execs over his dead-wrong Charlie Kirk comments, as ABC insiders told The Post the witless opening monologue didn’t even register with anyone on the show as being deeply offensive.
The $16-million-a-year late-night darling — who’s so far refused to apologize for the sick comments in order to get his show reinstated — emerged from his Los Angeles home in the afternoon, driving himself in his Audi S8 to an office complex in Century City, which houses various law offices.
But even with the fate of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” hanging by a thread, a source close to the situation said Kimmel’s opening monologue on Monday night — during which he falsely claimed that a member of the “MAGA gang” was responsible for killing Kirk on Sept. 10 — didn’t “ping on the radar” as being particularly offensive.
“He’s said much worse,” the source said of Kimmel.
Perhaps that’s because Kimmel, 57, has spent an absolutely inordinate amount of time slamming President Trump and his supporters.
Over the last year, nearly every monologue has been devoted to a Trump-hating homily.
In the nine shows in the last two weeks, Trump positively dominated Kimmel’s monologues, each featuring over 10 minutes of wall-to-wall cracks at the president, including a particular fixation on the release of the Epstein files.
‘Score political points’
Kimmel’s show was pulled from the air “indefinitely” Wednesday night after the host implied that Kirk’s accused killer, Tyler Robinson, was part of the MAGA movement and claimed that Trump supporters were lying when they blamed the left for political violence.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during his show’s Monday monologue.
Robinson allegedly scribbled pro-trans and anti-fascist messages on his bullets before the killing and was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology,” according to investigators and authorities.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seized on Kimmel’s comments in a Thursday CNBC interview, saying they “appeared to directly mislead” the public.
A source said Kimmel’s quip was no ad-lib but a joke scripted by writers that went through the usual pre-show vetting process.
“ABC is stupid,” one source at the network fumed.
“They should have edited Kimmel. They know Trump is after him. Their standards department should have flagged it. They should have known better.”
Meanwhile, inside the Disney-owned network, staffers are “freaked out” over the decision to pull Kimmel, who began hosting his namesake show in 2003 after his ABC time slot predecessor “Politically Incorrect” was canceled following controversial comments about 9/11 by host Bill Maher.
“Everyone is afraid they’ll lose their jobs,” the person said, adding that “everyone” was asking questions about the Kimmel situation in Thursday’s editorial meeting.
“Everyone is talking about this but no one at the network is putting anything in writing,” the person said when asked if higher ups have addressed the situation via a memo.
“Everyone is paranoid.”
‘Was not a joke’
The decision to suspend the late-night mainstayhost was made by Disney CEO Bob Iger and TV boss Dana Walden, sources told The Post.
According to Deadline, Kimmel learned that his show was put on hold during a phone call from Walden Wednesday afternoon.
Here’s the latest on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension after Charlie Kirk comments
And it came after pressure from Nexstar and Sinclair, the two largest owners of ABC affiliate stations. Nexstar is currently trying to win Trump administration approval for its $6.2 billion acquisition of rival Tegna.
Just a few hours before Kimmel’s suspension was announced, Carr, a Trump appointee, suggested that there was a “strong case” for the Federal Communications Commission to take action against ABC and its parent company, Disney — calling Kimmel’s comments “truly sick.”
On Thursday, Carr doubled down, addressing the backlash from some viewers arguing Kimmel was muzzled for his long history of anti-Trump jokes on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.”
“The issue that arose here, where lots and lots of people were upset, was not a joke,” the Trump-appointed FCC chair said.
“It was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact that probably one of the most significant political events we’ve had in a long time, for the most significant political assassination we’ve seen in a long time,” he said of Kimmel’s off-color remarks.
President Trump revelled in the news of “ratings-challenged” and “ZERO talent” Kimmel’s forced hiatus, calling it “great news for America” in a post on Truth Social in which he praised ABC for “finally having the courage to do what needed to be done.”
Kimmel’s fate at the network is uncertain, but the talk show has been in ratings free fall well ahead of the scandal – plunging 43% from 1.95 million viewers in January to a paltry 1.1 million last month.
Sources told Daily Mail the move was the “last straw” for Kimmel, who is now “actively looking” to weasel out of his contract and end his relationship with ABC.
The comedian was reportedly “absolutely f–king livid” upon learning he was being sidelined.
“Jimmy is pissed over the decision to suspend him and the show, and he isn’t going to take this lightly, as he is actively looking for ways to get out of his contract,” the source said., with another insisting they’ve “never seen Kimmel this angry.”
But, per insider reporting from Deadline and Hollywood Reporter, he refused to apologize when confronted and said he didn’t believe he had anything to say sorry for.
He told execs that he intended to “clarify” his remarks, but then wanted to double-down in attacking Trump supporters.
ABC has been broadcasting “Celebrity Family Feud” in place of Kimmel’s show, and on Friday dozens of ABC affiliate stations under Sinclair Broadcast Group will air a special “in remembrance of Charlie Kirk” in the time slot.
Sinclair has demanded that Kimmel apologize and make a sizable personal donation to Kirk organization, Turning Point USA, before it will even consider letting his show back on its stations.
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