'Bad taste': Ex-Disney CEO Bob Iger defends decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel for Charlie Kirk remarks

Don't blame Trump for Jimmy Kimmel's suspension last year, says former Disney CEO Bob Iger — it was purely an in-house decision.

"We thought it was in bad taste," Iger told the Financial Times, referring to the late-night host's on-air remarks about Charlie Kirk shortly after his death.

'An ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment.'

Murderous monologue

Five days after Kirk was assassinated during a college tour stop in Utah on September 10, 2025, Kimmel addressed the killing in his opening monologue, declaring that the "MAGA gang [is] 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."

Two days later, on September 17, Disney suspended production of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Production was resumed on September 23.

Iger, who was CEO of Disney from 2022 to 2026, denied speculation that complaints from the Trump administration were the real reason ABC and parent company Disney pulled the show.

Iger also revealed that Kimmel was asked to apologize for his remarks, saying "We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment."

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Michael Le Brecht II/Disney/Getty Images

Persecution complex

Speculation that the executive branch was behind Kimmel's suspension stemmed chiefly from an appearance FCC Chairman Brendan Carr made on a podcast, where he said, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way," regarding the talk-show host.

"These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead," Carr remarked, per Variety.

Kimmel, too, claimed he was the victim of a government plot to silence him; however the alleged plot would only last five days. Upon returning to the network, Kimmel's show aired a compilation of news stories surrounding his suspension, where multiple channel were shown calling his return to ABC a "huge" and "pivotal" moment in history.

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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images/Disney

Hero to zero

As Blaze News reported at the time, Kimmel received multiple standing ovations from his audience, becoming visibly emotional as he recalled messages of love he had received for being the alleged target of a government censorship plot.

Kimmel's remarks were a reversal of his previous comments, as he told his viewers that he was not actually trying to pin any certain ideology on Kirk's assassin.

"I have no illusions about changing anyone's mind," Kimmel said. "But I do want to make something clear because it's important to me as a human. And that is you understand that 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."

In April, Kimmel joked about first lady Melania Trump having "a glow like an expectant widow."

Two days later, another assassination attempt was made on President Trump at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, considered the third attempt on the president's life.

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