Jimmy Fallon Comments on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Being Pulled

Jimmy Fallon is speaking out after ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from air.

During the Thursday, Sept. 18 installment of “The Tonight Show,” Fallon addressed ABC pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! “indefinitely.”

“Well guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking WTF? What’s going on?, ” Fallon began. “This morning I woke up to 100 text messages from my dad saying, ‘I’m sorry they canceled your show.’ And I go, ‘That’s not me!’ That’s Jimmy Kimmel!”

The late-night host went on to say, “To be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on, and no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny, and loving guy. and I hope he comes back.”

Fallon elaborated, saying, “A lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say, or that we’ll be censored. But I’m going to cover the president’s trip to the UK just like I normally would. Here we go!”

The NBC host then launched into a bit, saying, “Well, guys, president Trump just wrapped up his three-day trip to the UK, and he” before a voiceover cut in and said, “looked incredibly handsome.”

Fallon continued describing Trump — with voiceovers cutting him off. “As always, his tie was,” Fallon said before a voiceover finished, “exactly the right length.”

“And his face looked,” Fallon said — to which a voiceover cut in, “like a color that exists in nature.”

“And his hair looked —” Fallon said, before being interrupted by a voiceover saying, “better than Conrad’s from The Summer I Turned Pretty.”

“During the trip, protestors managed to project images onto the sides of Windsor Castle of Trump standing next to his good friend, Jeff,” Fallon continued with a voiceover adding “Goldblum.”

Fallon continued, “Even though his administration still insists that he’s not in the—Goldblum — files. Which we all know is absolute bull— true.”

“Anyway, to sum it up, president Trump is—” Fallon said, before a voiceover added, “making America great again by restoring our national reputation, reinvigorating our economy, and rebuilding our military. I hereby nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, an ABC spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE that Disney’s ABC would be pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely.

The network’s move follows Nexstar Media’s decision to preempt airings of the program. Nexstar Media is the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S., owning more than 200 television stations in 116 markets.

Nexstar recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, a massive deal that would further consolidate the local television landscape and put Nexstar in 80% of America’s TV-owning households, according to a press release. The acquisition will require final approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Nexstar said in part 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.”

FCC Chair Brendan Carr also praised Nexstar for putting pressure on ABC to remove Kimmel, writing on X that “it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”

The media company’s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from air came two days after Kimmel mentioned Kirk in the monologue for his Sept. 15 show.

Addressing President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” supporters, Kimmel said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

Kirk was shot and killed during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. He was 31.

In the wake of Kirk’s murder, Kimmel took to social media to offer condolences to Kirk’s family.

“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote at the time. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

After CBS cancelled The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in July 2025, President Donald Trump predicted that longtime ABC host Kimmel would be the next late-night casualty.

“The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, [Jimmy] Fallon will be gone,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social account.

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Following the Sept. 17 news that Jimmy Kimmel Live! had been pulled indefinitely from the air, Trump wrote in a subsequent statement on the social media platform, “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible,” he continued, before taking aim at late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.

“That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJ,” he added.