{"id":15462,"date":"2025-10-02T13:05:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=15462"},"modified":"2025-10-02T13:05:01","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T13:05:01","slug":"ben-stiller-jimmy-kimmel-after-suspension-over-charlie-kirk-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/?p=15462","title":{"rendered":"Ben Stiller Jimmy Kimmel After Suspension Over Charlie Kirk Comments"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Los Angeles, CA \u2013 Actor and director Ben Stiller has spoken out in defense of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, whose late-night program was abruptly suspended following remarks he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The controversy stems from Kimmel\u2019s opening monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, in which he addressed both Kirk\u2019s death and President Donald Trump\u2019s public comments about the tragedy.<\/p>\n

Kimmel\u2019s Remarks Spark Backlash<\/p>\n

Kirk, 31, was fatally shot in the neck while participating in a debate at Utah Valley University on September 10. The suspected gunman, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, was arrested two days later and now faces seven charges, including aggravated murder and obstruction of justice.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

On his show, Kimmel played a clip of President Trump responding to reporters about Kirk\u2019s death. The president began by saying he was doing \u201cvery good\u201d before shifting to discuss ongoing renovations at the White House, particularly a new ballroom.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kimmel mocked the response, quipping:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s at the fourth stage of grief: construction. 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The comedian also criticized Republicans for their reaction to the shooting, saying that Trump supporters were \u201cdesperately trying to spin\u201d Robinson\u2019s motives to avoid political fallout.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Network Moves to Suspend Show<\/p>\n

The monologue quickly drew outrage online, with critics calling Kimmel\u2019s remarks \u201cinsensitive\u201d and \u201cpolitically charged.\u201d<\/p>\n

ABC later confirmed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be \u201cpre-empted indefinitely.\u201d Nexstar Media, which distributes the program across dozens of local affiliates, also announced it would not air the show \u201cfor the foreseeable future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar\u2019s broadcast division, said the suspension was necessary because Kimmel\u2019s comments were \u201coffensive at a critical time in the national discourse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben Stiller and Obama Respond<\/p>\n

The suspension prompted swift reactions from across the political and cultural spectrum. Stiller, known for films like Zoolander and Tropic Thunder, took to X (formerly Twitter) to post a blunt three-word response:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former President Barack Obama also weighed in, framing the suspension as a troubling precedent. On social media, Obama argued that the decision reflected political pressure rather than editorial independence:<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire commentators it doesn\u2019t like. This is precisely the kind of coercion the First Amendment was designed to prevent.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Deepening Divide<\/p>\n

The decision has reignited debates about free speech, political pressure on media outlets, and the boundaries of comedy in times of national tragedy. Supporters of Kimmel argue that comedians have always used satire to hold leaders accountable, while critics insist that mocking the death of a public figure crosses a moral line.<\/p>\n

As of now, neither ABC nor Kimmel has announced when\u2014or if\u2014the show will return to air.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles, CA \u2013 Actor and director Ben Stiller has spoken out in defense of talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, whose late-night program was abruptly suspended following remarks he made … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15464,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15462\/revisions\/15464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cndailynews.store\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}