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In light of Jimmy Kimmel’s unexpected suspension on Wednesday, the Daily Mail revisits some of the late night host’s most controversial moments.
On Wednesday, the network announced that ABC affiliates would temporarily remove Kimmel’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! show from their schedules. This decision came a day after Kimmel made controversial comments regarding the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
Nexstar broadcasting division president Andrew Alford was critical of Kimmel’s remarks in a statement issued Wednesday.
‘Mr. Kimmel’s remarks about Mr. Kirk’s passing are deemed offensive and insensitive, especially during a pivotal moment in our national political dialogue,’ Alford stated, ‘and they do not represent the diverse opinions, views, or values of the local communities we serve.’
Kimmel, 57, has been outspoken about his left-leaning beliefs in recent years and a regular critic of President Donald Trump.
Daily Mail has reached out for comment to Kimmel’s publicist.
Amid the shocking suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, 57, on Wednesday, Daily Mail is taking a look back at some of the late night host’s most controversial moments. Pictured in June
Kimmel broached on the touchy topic Tuesday as he took a different spin on the fallout of Kirk’s assassination on a Utah college campus at the hands of a 22-year-old suspect.
‘We hit some new lows over the weekend,’ Kimmel said, ‘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.’
Post election meltdown
Kimmel’s political views were on naked display on the November 6, 2024 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live, in the wake of President Trump’s victory over Democratic challenger Kamala Harris.
‘It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hard working immigrants who make this country go, for health care, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech,’ the comedian told the audience.
He continued: ‘It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on Social Security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO and democracy and decency.
‘And it was a terrible night for everyone who voted against him. And guess what? It was a bad night for everyone who voted for him too. You just don’t realize it yet.’
The emotional host wrapped up in declaring that ‘it was a really good night for Putin and for polio and for lovable billionaires like Elon Musk, and the bros up in Silicon Valley.
‘And all the wriggling brain worms who sold what was left of their souls to bow down to Donald Trump.’
Nexstar broadcasting division president Andrew Alford was critical of Kimmel’s remarks in a statement issued Wednesday
The broadcasting exec said that Kimmel’s ‘comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.’ Kirk pictured prior to his tragic killing September 10 on the Utah Valley University campus
Mean Streak
Kimmel showed he can ad-lib – and go low – with the best of them during a March 2010 interview with Sabrina the Teenage Witch actress Melissa Joan Hart.
The chart was on his show after Hart, a sitcom star in the 1990s, was eliminated from Dancing with the Stars.
Kimmel asked Hart: ‘At any point during the competition, did you consider using witchcraft to help you?’
Hart replied, ‘Ah, whoa hold on – that joke is like, 1996.’
Kimmel replied, ‘Yeah, but you know what? So are you to be honest,’ later joking he was an ‘evil’ person.
A response penned on a Reddit thread about the exchange read, ‘You know the comeback is brutal when you laugh but also feel genuinely sorry for her.’
Kimmel humiliated Sabrina the Teenage Witch star Melissa Joan Hart on his show 15 years ago
No love for Leno
Kimmel showed his mean streak a few months earlier in January of 2010 when he got directly involved in the late night imbroglio going on at rival network NBC, during their criticized plans to replace a ratings-challenged Conan O’Brien with Jay Leno.
Kimmel accepted an invited into Jay Leno’s maligned 10 p.m. show and took part in a sketch called 10 at 10, ambushing Leno with a series of cutting questions related to The Tonight Show controversies.
When Leno asked him about the best prank he ever pulled, Kimmel responded, ‘I told a guy that five years from now I’m going to give you my show, and then when the five years came, I gave it to him, and then I took it back almost instantly.’
Leno, who was fighting a publicity crisis as he was returning to the Tonight Show to replace the be beloved O’Brien, brought up the incident in an April appearance on In Depth With Graham Bensinger,
‘When Kimmel came on my show and humiliated me on my own show, I let it happen,’ Leno said. ‘I didn’t edit it. It was my mistake, I trusted somebody. I went, “Ah, I made a mistake – Okay, I should pay the price.” And it’s fine, it’s fine. I mean, we could’ve edited it out of the show.’
He added, ‘It’s real — it happened, it’s my mistake – that’s how you learn.’
