What Did Jimmy Kimmel Say About Charlie Kirk’s Death on His Late-Night Show? Read the Full Transcript

The late-night talk show will no longer be on ABC “for the foreseeable future,” a Nexstar spokesperson tells PEOPLE

NEED TO KNOW

Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled from ABC indefinitely days after the late-night television host made comments on air about Charlie Kirk’s death
The 31-year-old right-wing political commentator was shot and killed while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10
Read the full transcript of Kimmel’s remarks here

ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s television show from the air indefinitely after the late-night host made comments about the death of Charlie Kirk.

During the Monday, Sept. 15 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the 57-year-old comedian discussed recent events, such as President Donald Trump criticizing the NFL’s new “Kickoff Rule” and “‘sissy’ football.”

Kimmel then moved on to Kirk, a right-wing political commentator who was shot and killed while speaking at a campus event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. He was 31 years old.

Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged with aggravated murder in connection with Kirk’s death.

“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,” Kimmel began. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

“On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this,” he continued.

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A clip then cut into Kimmel’s broadcast, showing Trump, 79, taking questions from reporters after the shooting, one of which offered their condolences for the death of the president’s “friend” Kirk.

When asked how he was holding up, Trump replied, “I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”

Trump continued discussing the ballroom plans, saying the result would “be a beauty.”

The cameras then cut back to Kimmel. “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction,” the comedian said.

“Demolition, construction,” Kimmel 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, okay?”

The host then claimed Trump’s seemingly nonchalant comments “didn’t just happen once,” showing the president on a Sept. 12 appearance on Fox & Friends, where he recalled what he was doing when he got news of Kirk’s death.

“When I heard it, I was in the midst of, you know, building a great — for 150 years they’ve wanted a ballroom at the White House, right? They don’t have a ballroom; they have to use tents on the lawn for President Xi when he comes over. If it rains, it’s a wipeout,” Trump said.

Trump recalled he was with the architects planning the “incredible” design for the ballroom when someone entered and told him, “‘Charlie Kirk is dead.’ ” The president said he expressed shock over the news.

“And then we installed the most beautiful chandelier,” Kimmel said, as the cameras were back on him. “Sconces you wouldn’t believe.”

“There’s something wrong with him, there really is. Who thinks like that?” said Kimmel, who previously sent condolences to Kirk’s family while denouncing violence. “Why are we building a $200 million ballroom in the White House? Is it possible he’s doing it intentionally so we can be mad about that instead of the Epstein list? By the time he’s out of office, the White House will have slot machines and a water slide.”

In a statement to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Sept. 17, Nexstar said that its “owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show.”

The statement added that the company “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”

Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, elaborated on the decision in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”

Alford continued, “Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”