Former Disney CEO Bob Iger denied that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended from his ABC late-night show last year to prove the network’s allegiance to President Donald Trump.
“That was not the case,” Iger, 75, told the Financial Times in an interview published on Saturday, June 20. “We thought [Kimmel’s joke] was in bad taste.”
Iger pointed out that Kimmel’s suspension lasted less than a week, noting,“We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment.”
(Iger stepped down as Disney CEO in March, turning over the role to successor Josh D’Amaro.)
Controversy erupted last fall over Kimmel, 58, discussing the murder of Charlie Kirk while the conservative activist was delivering a speech on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025.
(Tyler James Robinson was later charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm and violent offense in the presence of a child, as well as two counts of obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Robinson, 22, has not yet entered a plea.)
During his Jimmy Kimmel Live! monologue on September 15, 2025, Kimmel ignited a firestorm of controversy while discussing the political fallout of Kirk’s death at age 31.
“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 with everything they can to score political points from,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
Kimmel then showed footage of Trump, 80, discussing his White House construction plans in the wake of Kirk’s death.
Jimmy Kimmel Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
“He’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction,” Kimmel joked. “It’s demolition, construction.”
The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host added, “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
Days after the jokes originally aired, numerous conservative groups called for a boycott of ABC and multiple station owners, including Nexstar Media and Sinclair, vowed not to air Jimmy Kimmel Live! until he publicly apologized. ABC eventually confirmed to Us Weekly on September 17, 2025, that the comedy show would be “pre-empted indefinitely.”
Kimmel was off the air for a total of six days before ABC reinstated Jimmy Kimmel Live! into its weeknight lineup on September 22, 2025.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” the company’s statement to Us read. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Kimmel told viewers in his return monologue, “I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to do and say tonight, and the truth is, I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference.”
“If you like me, you like me, if you don’t, I have no illusions of changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human: It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” Kimmel clarified.
ABC ultimately signed Kimmel to a one-year contract extension in December 2025, despite Trump’s repeated demands for the network to fire him.
Kimmel has continued to spar with Trump in the months since his on-air return, most recently picking the president’s longtime nemesis Rosie O’Donnell to guest-host Jimmy Kimmel Live! during his summer vacation.
“As a special treat for our commander-in-chief, I asked one of his all-time favorites, Rosie O’Donnell, to be here to keep the hits coming. So, you’re welcome,” he told viewers on Thursday, June 18. “All I ask in return, Mr. President, is that you don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone!”
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs every on ABC weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET.
