Former President Barack Obama criticized the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! following backlash over Kimmel’s comments about the assassination of Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.

Obama accused the current administration of engaging in censorship through regulatory threats.

“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” Obama wrote on X while sharing an article on the suspension.

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like. https://t.co/uts7JpJZzN

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 18, 2025

“This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”

This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it. https://t.co/gOjqFnGv0I

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 18, 2025

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The controversy began with Kimmel’s Monday night monologue, in which he claimed conservatives were mischaracterizing the suspect in Kirk’s killing.

“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,” Kimmel said.

Dear dishonest corporate media hobgoblins:

Jimmy Kimmel did not make a “joke.”

Jimmy Kimmel went on air and told the ABC audience that Charlie Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA conservative, effectively blaming Charlie Kirk for his own assassination.

Then he accusing the right of… pic.twitter.com/or7uP5i3AR

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 18, 2025

Investigators, however, and the family of the suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, indicated Robinson held left-leaning views and had been living with a transgender roommate described by relatives as someone who “hates conservatives and Christians.”

Robinson was identified as the alleged gunman in Kirk’s public killing last week at Utah Valley University.

Kimmel did not issue an on-air apology for his remarks.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr condemned Kimmel’s assertions, calling them “truly sick.”

Carr warned ABC and parent company Disney that misleading commentary of that nature could lead to regulatory review, including action against their broadcast license.

Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar Media Group, which owns dozens of ABC affiliates, also criticized the monologue.

He described Kimmel’s remarks as “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse” and said Nexstar stations would not air the program until “cooler heads prevail.”

ABC later announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! had been suspended “indefinitely.”

The network has not provided details on when or if the program might return, leaving Kimmel’s future uncertain. His current contract runs through May 2026.

President Donald Trump welcomed the decision in a post on Truth Social.

“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote.

He added, “Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”

Donald Trump Jr. also weighed in, countering arguments from critics who called the suspension censorship.

He wrote that left-leaning media figures were now experiencing “consequence culture,” noting that inflammatory rhetoric has real-world effects.

They’re not losing their jobs to cancel culture, they’re losing them to Consequence Culture. Consequences and accountability are something Democrats haven’t had to face in a long time. https://t.co/z9UpoKNDcb

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 17, 2025

The dispute over Kimmel’s remarks comes amid an ongoing debate about the role of late-night television and the boundaries of political commentary, especially following Kirk’s assassination.

For now, ABC’s suspension of Kimmel has amplified both regulatory scrutiny and partisan divisions over media responsibility.