Jimmy Kimmel has been pulled off air indefinitely after comments he made about the shooting of Charlie Kirk..!
The decision came hours after Brendan Carr, chair of broadcast regulator, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened to act against ABC and its parent company Disney over the remarks.
In his monologue on Monday, Kimmel said the "Maga gang" was "desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them" and of trying to "score political points from it".Mr Carr said Kimmel was "appearing to directly mislead the American public".
Kimmel has not yet commented.During Monday night's show, he spoke about flags being flown at half mast in honour of Kirk and mocked US President Donald Trump's reaction to the shooting.
"This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish," he said.That prompted a furious response from Mr Carr, who accused Kimmel of "the sickest conduct possible" and demanded an apology.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr, a Trump appointee, told the Benny Show, a conservative podcast.Mr Carr thanked Nexstar "for doing the right thing" and said he hoped other broadcasters would follow its lead.
Nexstar is currently seeking FCC approval for its planned $6.2bn (£4.5bn) merger with Tegna.Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the US, said it would air a special remembrance programme dedicated to Kirk during the original time slot for Kimmel's show.
Kirk, a high-profile conservative activist, died of a single gunshot wound while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem on 10 September.Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with aggravated murder on Tuesday, with prosecutors saying they will seek the death penalty.
Others argued Kimmel's suspension was not an example of cancel culture."When a person says something that a ton of people find offensive, rude, dumb in real time and then that person is punished for it that's not cancel culture.
That is consequences for your actions," Dave Portnoy, who founded media company Barstool Sports, said.Meanwhile, House Democrat leaders accused Mr Carr of engaging "in the corrupt abuse of power" and called for him to resign.
