Now-former late-night host Jimmy Kimmel may face a federal review after telling viewers that Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer was a MAGA supporter.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said on conservative podcaster Benny Johnson’s show that he is weighing an investigation into Kimmel and ABC over the comments. The remarks referred to 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, who prosecutors say fatally shot Kirk during a university event in Orem, Utah.
Authorities have described Robinson as holding leftist political views, not ties to the MAGA movement.
“When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,” Carr told Johnson.
“As you’ve indicated, there are avenues here for the FCC, so there… are some ways in which I need to be a little bit careful because we could be called ultimately to be a judge on some of these claims that come up,” he added.
Kimmel mentioned Robinson during his Monday evening monologue.
“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,” he claimed in a comment that outraged conservatives.
In response to Kimmel’s remarks, Carr suggested suspending the host could be among several possible “remedies” under consideration.
Carr told ABC and its parent company, Disney, that such one-sided political content could put their broadcast license in jeopardy. He argued that airing assertions with political implications, especially about controversial figures during a highly charged case like Kirk’s assassination, might violate FCC standards.
Kimmel, meanwhile, has resisted calls to apologize. He reportedly told executives he would not “kowtow” to political pressure from the right, and signaled he intends to stand by his statements. This response, sources say, was not well received by ABC leadership, who were already worried about backlash from affiliates and advertisers.
Adding to the tension, influential broadcast groups Sinclair and Nexstar — both of which syndicate ABC content — warned they could pull ABC shows in affected markets. Advertiser concerns also mounted, creating a multifront pressure campaign against the network.
At one point, host Johnson asked Carr what action might be appropriate, suggesting Kimmel issue an on-air apology. “I think what you said there strikes me as a very reasonable, minimal step that can be taken,” the FCC boss said.
Carr then broached how President Donald Trump took on the “legacy media” during last year’s campaign.
“And one thing that President Trump did when he ran for office here is run directly at that legacy media establishment,” he said. “He smashed a façade that they get to control what we say, what we think, the narrative around events.”
He then said, “We’re seeing a lot of consequences that are flowing from President Trump doing that.”
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He pointed to recent moves to defund NPR and PBS, as well as the cancellation of late-night host Stephen Colbert’s show on CBS. “Joy Reid is out at MSNBC. Terry Moran is gone from ABC and now admitting that they are biased,” Carr told the conservative podcaster.
Carr added, “This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.
“They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” he noted further. “The FCC could make a strong argument that this is sort of an intentional effort to mislead the American people about a very core fundamental fact, a very important matter.”
