Bob Iger, who recently resigned as Disney’s CEO, is defending the company’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel in September for his comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Iger addressed the debacle publicly for the first time in an interview with the Financial Times, denying widespread speculation that Disney canceled “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to kowtow to the Trump administration.
“That never happened,” Iger said. “We thought that was in bad taste.” The retired executive also explained that Kimmel was asked to apologize for his comments: “We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was a poorly timed and probably inappropriate comment.”
Kirk, a right-wing activist and ally of Donald Trump, was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, at the age of 31, while speaking at an event at Utah Valley University. Five days later, Kimmel said on ABC’s late night show that the “MAGA gang” is “trying desperately to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them.” In response, President Trump’s FCC Chairman Brendan Carr hinted at regulatory pressure, saying on a podcast: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” “These companies can, frankly, find a way to change their behavior and take action against Kimmel. If they don’t, the FCC will have additional work to do down the road.”
Nexstar and Sinclair, which together own a quarter of ABC’s affiliate channels, immediately announced they would no longer air Kimmel’s show, and ABC followed suit, suspending production of Jimmy Kimmel Live indefinitely. In the end, the show returned five days later.
