US chatshow hosts condemn network bosses for axing Jimmy Kimmel

The US television hosts Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon and the former host David Letterman have rallied behind Jimmy Kimmel after ABC’s decision to indefinitely suspend his popular late-night programme following his comments about the Trump administration’s response to the shooting of the rightwing activist Charlie Kirk.

- Robert Mackey Maya Yang Sian Cain

In his opening monologue on Thursday night, Colbert mocked executives at Disney, ABC’s parent company, for caving in to threats by Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Commission chair, when they pulled Kimmel off the air.

The controversy began after Kimmel said during his monologue on Monday night that “many in Maga land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”. Within a day, Carr condemned the comments as “truly sick” and suggested ABC could face regulatory consequences.

In an excerpt posted on Instagram before his broadcast, Colbert also scolded Carr for calling Kimmel’s commentary an affront to community values. “Well, you know what my community values are, buster?” Colbert asked. “Freedom of speech.”

Stewart, meanwhile, stepped in to present “the all-new, government-approved Daily Show” on Thursday, which he normally only hosts on Mondays. Ona gold set designed to mock Donald Trump’s Oval Office aesthetic, Stewart struck a playfully sycophantic tone.

Referring to Trump’s comment during his press conference with Keir Starmer on Thursday that “Kimmel is nota talented person”, he said the president had a “talent-o-meter” to measure when a performer’s “niceness to the president goes below a certain level”.