Late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been pulled from air following its host’s comments surrounding the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Disney’s ABC network in the US announced today that the show would be “pre-empted indefinitely” following controversial comments linking the alleged killer of the conservative activist to President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
But Jimmy Kimmel is not the first talk show host to attract controversy, or even lose his job following a backlash.
See below for some of the biggest controversies to rock the late night TV genre.
Stephen Colbert
Back in July, CBS announced it was pulling the pin on its offering, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, with the show to end its run in May 2026.
While CBS president George Cheeks said in a press release at the time it was “purely a financial decision”, many believed the show had become a sacrificial lamb over its host’s criticisms of Donald Trump.
In fact, Colbert declared the “gloves are off” when he fronted his first show after the axing was announced, even telling the president to “go f–k yourself” after Trump celebrated the show’s cancellation on Truth Social, writing, “I absolutely love that Colbert was fired”.
Three days before his show was axed, Colbert said on his show that a US$16 million settlement by CBS parent company Paramount to Trump to settle a lawsuit against 60 Minutes was a “big fat bribe” – a reference to Paramount needing the FCC to approve its $8 billion sale to Skydance Media.
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Bill Maher
Politically Incorrect was a late-night talk show hosted by comedian and political commentator Bill Maher.
Eight days after the terrorist attacks on the US in September 2001, Maher called out the US government’s weak foreign policy and said this could have been a factor in the attacks.
The comments were widely condemned and major advertisers stopped advertising with the show, causing its broadcaster, ABC, to cancel the show in June 2002.
Maher, who today hosts Real Time with Bill Maher on streaming service Max, courted controversy when he went after Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith after the infamous Oscars slap.
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“That was just out of line and it re-enforced the idea that jokes are the enemy,” he told TMZ.
“It was sort of like cancel culture encapsulated.”
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart was the host of The Daily Show from 1998 to 2015, before returning in 2024 as a weekly guest host.
During an episode of the show on June 19, 2015, two days after a shooting in a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, which left nine people dead, Stewart said he would forgo his normal opening monologue, saying he was too sad to write jokes.
He then condemned the racial disparity and injustices in the US, pointing to the flying of Confederate flags, which he described as “racial wallpaper”.
Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno
Conan O’Brien found himself at the centre of controversy when his employer NBC, brought him in as the new host of the The Tonight Show.
O’Brien first started with NBC on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 1993. During his 2004 contract negotiations, it was agreed he would take over from Jay Leno, the long-running host of the The Tonight Show, when he left the show in 2009 to host his own primetime program called The Jay Leno Show.
However, just months after starting the gig, and with ratings declining, NBC hatched a offer to move Leno’s new show, which was also failing in its timeslot, back to his old timeslot and push O’Brien’s The Tonight Show to the early hours of the morning.
After the news was announced in January 2010, O’Brien released a statement saying the move would damage the show.
Later that month it was announced that O’Brien would leave The Tonight Show the next day. He was granted a payout of $67 million, which he shared with his staff.
Leno returned to hosting the show until February 2014, when Jimmy Fallon took over.
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Seth Meyers
The Late Night with Seth Meyers host recently found himself in Donald Trump’s sights, with the US President taking to Truth Social to describe both he and Jimmy Fallon, as “two total losers, on Fake News NBC” whose ratings “are also horrible”, and calling for their sacking.
Trump’s hatred of Meyers is thought to date back to 2011, when the then Saturday Night Live head writer roasted Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“Donald Trump has been saying that he will run for president as a Republican – which is surprising, since I just assumed that he was running as a joke,” he said.
He has since taken aim at Trump numerous times on the show he has fronted since 2014.
The most awkward moments in TV talk show history
In January, Trump seemingly warned the broadcast licence of NBC, which is owned by Comcast, writing on Truth Social, “How bad is Seth Meyers on NBC, a ‘network’ run by a truly bad group of people.
“I got stuck watching Marble Mouth Meyers the other night, the first time in months, and every time I movie this moron I feel an obligation to say how dumb and untalented he is, merely a slot filler for the Scum that runs Comcast.
“These are not shows or entertainment, they are simply political hits, 100 per cent of the time, to me and the Republican rave. Comcast should pay a BIG rate for this!”.
Jimmy Fallon
While Jimmy Fallon is largely considered a comedy genius, his more than decade-long tenure on the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon has not been without its controversies.
Fallon, who previously hosted Late Night with Jimmy Fallon from 2009 to 2013, before starting his new gig, has twice had to issue apologies over this action.
The first was in 2020 when a video of Fallon in blackface during a Saturday Night Live skit resurfaced online. This led the talk-show host to issue an apology on Twitter, today X.
“In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface,” he wrote.
“There is no excuse for this. I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable.”
Then in 2023 he issued an apology to staff of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after publication of a wide-ranging article by Rolling Stone which detailed allegations of a toxic workplace culture.
Jimmy Kimmel
Trump’s hatred of the newly unemployed Jimmy Kimmel dates back years, but it is his sacking which has ignited condemnation, especially in light of Trump’s celebratory comments.
“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,” he wrote on Truth Social, from his state visit in the UK.
“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”
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