Charlie

Unto every generation, and fraction thereof, a sitcom is born, in which the young people of the moment state their case, self-mockingly. FX recently gave us a State of New York Youth in “Adults,” and here we are now, closer to home with “I Love L.A.,” premiering Sunday on HBO, the network of “Girls” (your guide to the 20-teens), still the most prestigious slot on linear television.

As a native of this fair city, who will never call downtown “DTLA” — let alone #DTLA — I miss the days when the rest of the country wanted nothing to do with us. (Real conversation from my life: Person: “Where are you from?” Me: “Los Angeles.” Person: “I’m sorry”). I can get a little cranky when it comes to the gentrihipsterfication of the city by succeeding hordes of newly minted Angelenos. (The place-name dropping in “I Love L.A.” includes Canyon Coffee, Courage Bagels, Jumbo’s Clown Room, Crossroads School and Erewhon.) I’m just putting my cards on the table here, as I approach characters whose generational concerns are distinct from mine, even as they belong to a venerable screen tradition, that of Making It in Hollywood, which runs back to the silent era. (The heroine of those pictures, stardom escaping her, would invariably return to the small-town boy who loved her. No more!)

Created by and starring Rachel Sennott (“Bottoms”), “I Love L.A.” takes its title from a Randy Newman song written well before Sennott or any of her co-stars were born. (To tell us where we are, as regards both HBO and the location, the series opens with a sex scene in an earthquake.) As in many such shows, there is a coterie of easily distinguishable friends at its center. Sennott plays Maia, turning 27 and in town for two years, working as an assistant to talent/brand manager Alyssa (the wonderful Leighton Meester, from “Gossip Girl,” that 2007 chronicle of youth manners) and hungry for promotion. Back into her life comes Tallulah (Odessa A’zion, the daughter of Pamela Adlon, whose throatiness she has inherited), a New York City It Girl — does any other city have It Girls in 2025? — whose It-ness has lately gone bust, as has Tallulah herself, now broke and rootless. She is one of those exhausting whirlwind personalities one might take to be on drugs, except that there are people who really do run at that speed, without speed — Holly Go-Heavily.

Also starring in the series are Jordan Firstman, left, True Whitaker and Odessa A’zion.

(Kenny Laubbacher / HBO)

Charlie (Jordan Firstman) is a stylist whose career depends on flattery and performative flamboyance. (“What’s the point of being nice,” he wonders, “if no one that can help me sees it?”) Alani (True Whitaker) is the daughter of a successful film director who has presumably paid for her very nice house, with its view of the Silver Lake Reservoir, and whatever she needs. (She has a title at his company even she admits is fake.) Since she wants for nothing, she’s the least stressful presence here, invested in spiritual folderol in a way that isn’t annoying. Attached to the quartet, but not really of it, is Maia’s supportive boyfriend, Dylan (Josh Hutcherson), a grade-school teacher and the only character I came close to identifying with. Do the kids still call them “normies”? Or did they ever, really?

That I find some of these people more trying than charming doesn’t prevent “I Love L.A.” from being a show I actually quite like. (The ratio of charm to annoyance may be flipped for some viewers, of course; different strokes, as we used to say back in the 1900s.) If anything, it’s a testament to Sennott and company having done their jobs well; the production is tight, the dialogue crisp, the photography rich — nothing here seems the least bit accidental. The cast is on point playing people who in real life they may not resemble at all. (My own, surely naive, much contradicted assumption is that all actors are nice.)

Desperation, in comedy, is pathetic but not tragic; indeed, it’s a pillar of the form. Maia, Tallulah and Charlie are to various degrees ruled by a need to be accepted by the successful and famous in the hope of becoming famous and successful themselves. (Alani is already set, and Dylan is almost a hippie, philosophically.) At the same time, the successful and famous come in for the harshest lampooning, including Elijah Wood, in an against-type scene reminiscent of Ricky Gervais’ “Extras.” On the other hand, Charlie’s unexpected friendship with a Christian singer he mistakes for gay is quite sweet; comedy being what it is, one half-expects the character to be taken down. Miraculously, it never happens. You can take that as a recommendation.

When Charlie Sheen needed his then-13-year-old daughter taken to a hair appointment because he was too drunk to drive, he turned to his sober friend, Tony Todd.

When Sheen wanted to meet Carlos Estévez because the major league pitcher shared Sheen’s given name, he turned to his connected friend, Tony Todd.

When Sheen was in the throes of a crack addiction, fired from his starring role on “Two and a Half Men” and in need of an unwavering voice of encouragement, he turned to his non-judgmental friend Tony Todd.

“There are so many fake friends in Charlie’s life,” Todd said. “I’ve been there for him since we were little kids. The cool thing is, we’ve never had an argument.”

Thanks to the recent Netflix documentary “aka Charlie Sheen” and publication of “The Book of Sheen” memoir, Todd’s 50-year friendship with the mercurial actor has been revealed to the world. Todd’s social media accounts have since been flooded with praise from viewers far and wide.

“I had to reach out immediately to say you were and remain an angel from heaven.”

“You are the friend we would all like to have man, greetings from Spain!”

“Dear Tony, If you ever visit Istanbul, it would be our honor to host you in our hotel…. You are not only a great actor but also a true friend.”

“You … are a stellar human being [heart emoji].”

Todd and Sheen have been pals since they bonded through baseball, first on Little League fields in Malibu, then on the Santa Monica High School team, then while taking batting practice in Sheen’s posh indoor batting cage, then while putting on power-hitting displays at local high school fields and even Dodger Stadium.

And their friendship spread into their private lives, with Todd serving as best man at the first two of Sheen’s three marriages and serving as a drug-free wingman even when Sheen descended into a chaotic, self-destructive morass of cocaine, alcohol and reckless sex.

“There’s never been a call he hasn’t answered, there’s never been a crisis he didn’t help solve,” Sheen said in a phone interview. “Tony Todd has always been a friend, and a true one.”

The documentary “aka Charlie Sheen” is a first-person tell-all, with the narrative helped along by Sheen’s oldest brother, Ramon, childhood neighbor Sean Penn, “Two and a Half Men” co-star Jon Cryer and executive producer Chuck Lorre, drug dealer Marco Abeyta and ex-wives Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller.

And, of course, Todd. He laughs. He cries. He exudes honesty and empathy.

“He’s just one of my favorite people to have around in any situation,” Sheen said.

All of it certainly has made Todd — not to be confused with the actor of the same name who starred in “Candyman” and died a year ago — fame-adjacent.

Although he has enjoyed a career that includes acting/stuntman roles in both “Black Panther” movies and acting roles in the movie “Little Big League,” the TV show “Anger Management” and more than two dozen national commercials, Todd is best known in Santa Monica as the dude who can’t say no to volunteer fundraisers and sports a vanity license plate that reads “NVR KWT.”

Just this summer he helped raise $10,000 for Santa Monica Little League by hosting an outdoor screening of “Little Big League” and tapping into his vast contact list of pro athletes and A-list entertainers to attract silent-auction items.

And Todd was hailed as a “real hero” by authorities after he gave $700 to a family of five who had been robbed of their rent money in Lancaster in 2018. He was “so moved by the family’s story” that he jumped in his car and drove from Santa Monica to the high desert to hand-deliver the money.

His friendship with Sheen resonates with many, in part because Todd professes never to have taken a drug or a drink. Sheen, of course, was the poster man-child of substance abuse until becoming sober in December 2017, the day he relinquished his car keys to Todd to drive his daughter Sami to a hair salon appointment in Moorpark.

When Sheen was addicted to crack, Todd moved into his friend’s Mulholland Estates house in Beverly Hills. Even then, Sheen wouldn’t smoke the drug in Todd’s presence, and they often would end evenings watching MLB Network or ESPN’s “Sports Center.”

“I didn’t do hard stuff in front of him, just out of respect,” Sheen said.

Todd wept in “aka Charlie Sheen” when he explained why he continued to live with his friend knowing the actor was often smoking crack in the next room.

“I just can’t leave him to die,” he said.

Happier times occurred when they would head to a ball field to hit. Years earlier, after suffering a shoulder injury, Sheen had learned to bat left-handed, taking a hundred or so swings a day off an Iron Mike pitching machine in his indoor batting cage.

While filming a DirecTV commercial at Dodger Stadium in 2007, Sheen stepped into the batter’s box during a lunch break and crushed a pitch over the right-field wall. Todd whooped and hollered, in no small part because he had bet a Dodgers employee that his buddy would go deep.

“I knew it was going to happen because of all the [batting practice] we’d been taking,” Todd said.

Sheen also increased his strength by taking massive doses of testosterone, which he mentions in the documentary and alluded to in a 2015 interview when he said his HIV-positive diagnosis wasn’t the reason for his epic meltdown in 2011 after he was fired from “Two and a Half Men.”

“I wish I could blame it on that, but that was more of a ’roid rage,” said Sheen, who earlier had admitted he took steroids ahead of filming the 1989 hit movie “Major League,” in which he played pitcher Ricky (Wild Thing) Vaughn.

Todd had a video shot of batting sessions at Oak Park and Santa Clarita Hart high schools around 2008. Sheen hit a home run Todd estimated traveled 445 feet at Oak Park and hit a barrage of homers at Hart in the presence of Hall of Fame slugger Eddie Murray and the Hart High team.

Todd followed Sheen’s power display at Hart with a home run of his own. Todd was a talented-enough baseball and football player to earn a double scholarship to USC, although a serious injury his senior year in high school cost him the free ride.

His baseball ability landed him the role of Mickey Scales in “Little Big League” and his astonishing speed delighted Sheen even into their 40s. During one of their batting sessions at Oak Park High, Todd was challenged to a race around the bases by an onlooker.

Sheen told the man to start the race at second base while Todd started at home plate.

“By the time they rounded third, Tony had passed him, and after touching the plate he grabbed a glove and pretended to tag the guy when he reached the plate,” Sheen said, laughing.

Todd served as a baseball coach at Santa Monica High for several years, and in 2013 he lobbied for the school to award Sheen his diploma — the actor had been 1½ credits short 30 years earlier and hadn’t graduated.

Todd reached out to his friend Ross Mark, who handled bookings for “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” and they concocted a plan to have Sheen on as a guest and for Leno to surprise him with the diploma.

Todd walked on stage with the diploma and Sheen — who had quickly donned a cap and gown — gave him a hug, his lifelong friend having effectively smoothed over one more rough patch in his life.

The shooting of Charlie Kirk, a right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point USA, has attracted global attention. It didn’t take long for the media to rush to write narratives related to the shooting of Charlie Kirk. This tragedy is not only a sad news, it has transformed into a political stage that reveals the reality of how the world of news works. This, of course, raises a big question: how can a violent tragedy turn into a political conversation?

The Political Dimension of the Charlie Kirk Shooting

In a society often polarized by politics, an event is often responded to not by its substance but by who was involved in it. In this tragedy, the most widely reported information was related to Charlie Kirk’s political identity, his affiliation with Donald Trump and his close ties to conservative groups.

Violence against political figures in the United States is nothing new. However, Kirk’s case has become a turning point, demonstrating how vulnerable the public can be when political identities take precedence over human values. In its official statement on S. Res. 391, Congress honored Kirk’s commitment to the constitutional principles of civil discussion and debate among all Americans, regardless of political affiliation.

Facts about the Charlie Kirk shooting tragedy

On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on the campus of Utah Valley University. At the time of the incident, Kirk was answering questions about transgender shooters and mass shooters at a public debate themed “Prove Me Wrong” and hosted by Turning Point USA. Panic ensued, and security officers immediately carried him out on a stretcher, but unfortunately, Kirk’s life could not be saved because the bullet hit his neck.

The FBI and Utah State Police are working together to gather evidence, release video of the alleged shooter, and even offer a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identity of the Kirk shooter. Campus CCTV footage shows a man jumping from the Losee Center building. Prior to the arrest of Tyler Robinson (the shooter), two other men were detained on the day of the shooting, but were soon released after their innocence was proven.

An affidavit of probable cause from the Utah prosecutor’s office outlines the charges and elements of the charges, one of which is the enhancement of victim-targeting related to the victim’s political views. Tyler Robinson was charged with Aggravated Murder under Section 76-5-202 (F1 Felony), Felony Discharge of Firearms under Section 76-11-210(2)(3C) and Obstruction of Justice-Capital/First Degree Felony Conduct under Section 76-8-306(2)+(3A).

The Shift from Tragedy to Narrative in Public Space

The threat of domestic violence and terrorism in the United States is driven by social, political, and global factors. A divided political environment and the proliferation of digital disinformation have fueled the radicalization of individuals, often targeting political activists, government officials, and ethnic and religious minorities.

In this context, Kirk’s shooting demonstrates how a real tragedy has become a platform for shaping public opinion. Framing Kirk’s position and the perpetrator’s position creates a polarization, with conservatives viewing the shooting as a form of silencing of the values ​​of free speech in the United States. While others view this event as a form of ideological hostility that has led to political violence, they believe it reflects extreme rhetoric. What ultimately creates two conflicting versions of the truth, so that society no longer sympathizes with the event but shifts to its ideological position.

Public Polarization and the Construction of Global Media Reality

Several media narratives also highlighted the affiliation of Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old college student who was confirmed by the FBI as the perpetrator of Kirk’s shooting. However, public attention was no longer focused on the perpetrator’s motives, but rather on his ideological positions, social background, and political views. This further widened the gap in public polarization. Recurring narratives in the media reinforced certain images, one of which placed Tyler as affiliated with a political party. Most media outlets did not write narratives that showed the motives of the crime and the human aspects that could build public empathy. As a result, many people speculated that this was a political incident, not an ordinary shooting tragedy.

In an increasingly connected world, the line between local events and global issues is becoming increasingly blurred. The news of the Charlie Kirk tragedy has crossed borders and shaped broader debates about freedom of speech and democracy in the United States. This event has then become no longer seen as a domestic US issue but has evolved into a global reflection of narratives that are more often traded than conveying reality.

Kirk’s death should elicit empathy regardless of political affiliation or ideological views. Politics has taken over the media’s sense of humanity. Media plays a crucial role in distributing information, so it should be free from political elements that shape public opinion. When differing views are used as a source of conflict, the public sphere loses its function as a forum for discussion. Ultimately, the public can only be urged to think critically so that a tragedy is no longer used as a political commodity.

The State Department says the US has ‘no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans’ after revoking visas over critical social media posts.

The US Department of State says it has revoked the visas of six foreigners over remarks they made on social media about Charlie Kirk, the conservative political activist who was shot dead at a rally in September.

“The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans. The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk,” the department said in a post on X on Tuesday evening in the US.

The post was followed by a list of screenshots and critical remarks from six social media accounts, which the State Department said belonged to individuals from South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Paraguay and Mexico.

“An Argentine national said that Kirk ‘devoted his entire life spreading racist, xenophobic, misogynistic rhetoric’ and deserves to burn in hell. Visa revoked,” the State Department tweeted along with a screenshot that had the username blacked out.

The screenshot post said Kirk was now somewhere “hot” – an allusion to religious descriptions of hell.

The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.

The State Department continues to identify visa holders who celebrated the heinous assassination of Charlie Kirk. Here are just a few examples of aliens who are no longer welcome in the U.S.:

— Department of State (@StateDept) October 14, 2025

The news from the State Department came as Kirk was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Tuesday by President Donald Trump.

Kirk, who was 31 at the time of his death, was a cofounder of the conservative Turning Point student organisation. He was credited with driving young voters to vote for Trump during last year’s US presidential election.

His death led to a wave of social media commentary on the US left and right about his politics, as Trump elevated him to the status of a “martyr for truth” during a memorial service.

More than 145 people were fired, suspended, or resigned over social media posts or comments about Kirk, according to a New York Times investigation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously said the Trump administration could revoke the visas of foreign nationals over comments on Kirk, while Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau urged internet users to report social media comments of people applying for US visas.

“I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalising, or making light of the event, and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action,” Landau tweeted in September. “Please feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the [State Department] can protect the American people.”

In light of yesterday’s horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country. I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing, or making light…

— Christopher Landau (@DeputySecState) September 11, 2025

While the State Department has required visa applicants to share their social media handles on their applications since 2019, in June, it added the provision that student applicants must make all their social media accounts public for government vetting.

The move follows a crackdown on international students who supported pro-Palestine protests on university and college campuses across the US under the Trump administration.

In August, a State Department official told Fox News it had revoked more than 6,000 student visas this year.

About two-thirds of visas were revoked because students reportedly broke US law, the Fox News report said, while “200 to 300” were cancelled because they supported “terrorism” or engaged in “behaviour such as raising funds for the militant group Hamas”.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday posthumously awarded America’s highest civilian honor to Charlie Kirk, the slain activist who inspired a generation of young conservatives and helped push the nation’s politics further to the right.

The ceremony coincided with what would have been Kirk’s 32nd birthday. It came just over a month after the Turning Point USA founder was fatally shot while speaking to a crowd at Utah Valley University.

In a sign of Kirk’s close ties to the administration, he was the first recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in Trump’s second term. The president also spoke at at Kirk’s funeral in September, calling him a “great American hero” and “martyr” for freedom, while Vice President JD Vance accompanied his body home to Arizona on Air Force Two along with Kirk’s widow, Erika.

“We’re here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, beloved leader who galvanized the next generation like nobody I’ve ever seen before, and an American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality and the highest caliber,” Trump said Tuesday afternoon.

Of Kirk’s killing, Trump said: “He was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his faith and relentless fighting for a better and stronger America.”

The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established by President Kennedy in 1963 for individuals making exceptional contributions to the country’s security or national interests or to world peace, or being responsible for significant cultural endeavors or public and private initiatives.

Tuesday’s event followed Trump returning to the U.S. in the predawn hours after a whirlwind trip to Israel and Egypt to celebrate a ceasefire agreement in Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza that his administration was instrumental in brokering.

Trump joked that he almost requested to move the ceremony because of the trip.

“I raced back halfway around the globe,” Trump said. “I was going to call Erika and say, ‘Erika, could you maybe move it to Friday? And I didn’t have the courage to call. But you know why I didn’t call? Because I heard today was Charlie’s birthday.”

Argentine President Javier Milei, who had been visiting with the president at the White House earlier, stayed to attend the ceremony.

Trump has awarded a string of presidential medals going back to his first term, including to golf legend Tiger Woods, ex-football coach Lou Holtz and conservative economist Arthur Laffer, as well as to New York Yankees Hall of Fame pitcher Mariano Rivera and conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, the latter of which came during the 2020 State of the Union. He awarded posthumous medals to Babe Ruth and Elvis.

This term, Trump has also announced his intentions to award the medals to Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and a close former advisor, and to Ben Carson, who served as Trump’s first-term secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Kirk founded Turning Point USA in 2012. Trump has praised Kirk as one of the key reasons he was reelected.

But Kirk’s politics were also often divisive. He sharply criticized gay and transgender rights while inflaming racial tensions. Kirk also repeated Trump’s false claims that former Vice President Kamala Harris was responsible for policies that encouraged immigrants to come to the U.S. illegally and called George Floyd, a Black man whose killing by a Minneapolis police officer sparked a national debate over racial injustice, a “scumbag.”

Trump wrote in a social media post hours before the event that he was moving the ceremony from the White House’s East Room to the Rose Garden to accommodate a crowd he said would be “so big and enthusiastic.”

Weissert writes for the Associated Press.

Jimmy Kimmel figured his ABC late-night show was toast during last month’s firestorm over his comments following conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s shooting.

“I said to my wife: ‘That’s it. It’s over,’” Kimmel recalled Wednesday night at the Bloomberg Screentime media conference in Hollywood in a lengthy sit-down interview three weeks after the controversy.

The 57-year-old comedian has all along felt his statements about the Kirk shooting were misconstrued. But he recognized his show was in deep trouble on Sept. 17 when his bosses benched him and two ABC affiliate station owners, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, initially refused to air the program.

Kimmel provided fresh details about his dealings with Walt Disney Co. brass, his emotional hiatus and the late night television business in the wake of rival CBS announcing it was canceling “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” next spring.

Kimmel declined to say whether he would extend his long ABC run when his contract is up in May, but he acknowledged an interest in producing other projects.

Kimmel’s future was in doubt last month after his comments and the political backlash spawned boisterous protests that shined a light on 1st Amendment freedoms, the role of the Federal Communications Commission and the challenges facing Disney as it looks for a new leader to replace Chief Executive Bob Iger next year.

The controversy began with his Sept. 15 monologue when Kimmel said Trump supporters “are desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” Right-wing influencers howled; FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called Kimmel’s actions “the sickest conduct possible.”

The sentiment he was trying to convey “was intentionally, and I think maliciously, mischaracterized,” Kimmel said.

He didn’t sense the initial fallout was “a big problem,” but rather a “distortion on the part of some of the right-wing media networks,” he said.

Kimmel had planned to clarify his remarks Sept. 17, but Disney executives feared the comedian was dug in and would only inflame the tense situation. That night, about an hour before showtime, Disney hit pause and released a statement saying the show had been pre-empted “indefinitely.”

He was off the air for four days.

“I can sometimes be aggressive. I can sometimes be unpleasant,” he said.

A protester calls for the return of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after Walt Disney Co. yanked the ABC comedian in September over comments he made about the shooting of right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

He recognized the show’s precarious position when Sinclair and Nexstar bailed. He recalled an episode from early in his career when he made a joke about boisterous Detroit basketball fans, saying “They’re gonna burn the city of Detroit down if the Pistons win,” so he hoped the Lakers would prevail.

The comment riled up the Motor City, prompting the local ABC affiliate to briefly shelve Kimmel’s show.

An ABC executive at the time told Kimmel the loss of the Detroit market could be catastrophic. That pales in comparison to the threatened loss of Nexstar and Sinclair, which own dozens of stations, including in such large markets as Seattle, St. Louis and Washington, D.C.

“The idea that I would not have …. 40 affiliates [stations] … I was like, ‘Well, that’s it,’” Kimmel said.

But he said he “was not going to go along” with demands made by station broadcasters.

Sinclair, a right-leaning broadcaster, said in a statement it would not air Kimmel until he issued “a direct apology to the Kirk family” and “make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA,” the right-wing group Kirk founded.

Both Sinclair and Nexstar resumed airing the show Sept. 26. ABC offered no concessions.

Kimmel complimented Disney’s co-chair of entertainment Dana Walden’s handling of the crisis, saying she was instrumental in helping him sort through his emotions.

“I ruined Dana’s weekend. It was just nonstop phone calls all weekend,” Kimmel said, saying he doubted the situation would have turned out so well “if I hadn’t talked to Dana as much as I did, because it helped me think everything through, and it helped me just kind of understand where everyone was coming from.”

When asked who might become the next CEO of Disney, Kimmel said it would be “foolish” to answer that question.

“But I happen to love Dana Walden very much, and I think she’s done a great job,” Kimmel said.

Throughout the controversy, Walden and Iger were skewered by critics who asserted the company was caving to President Trump, who has made it clear that he’s no Kimmel fan. The Disney leaders were accused of “corporate capitulation.”

“What has happened over the last three weeks … was very unfair to my bosses at Disney,” Kimmel said. “It [was] insane, and I hope that we drew a really bold red line as Americans about what we will and will not accept.”

Kimmel returned Sept. 23 with an emotional monologue that championed the 1st Amendment.

Ratings soared.

The controversy — and CBS’ upcoming cancellation of Colbert — has focused new attention on the cultural clout of late night hosts, despite the industry’s falling ratings.

Millions of viewers now watch monologues and other late night gags the following day on YouTube, which means networks that produce the shows have lost valuable revenue because Google controls much of that advertising.

Networks acknowledge the late night block is challenged, but Kimmel said such shows still matter.

He scoffed at reports that cite unnamed sources suggesting Colbert’s show was on track to lose $40 million this year.

“If [CBS] lost $40 million, they would have canceled it already,” Kimmel said. “I know what the budgets for these shows are,” alluding to the ABC, CBS and NBC shows.

“If we’re losing so much money, none of us would be on,” he said. “That’s kind of all you need to know.”

PROVO, Utah — An attorney for the 22-year-old man charged with killing Charlie Kirk asked a judge Monday for more time to review the large amount of evidence in the case before deciding if the defense will seek a preliminary hearing.

A preliminary hearing would determine if there is enough evidence against Tyler Robinson to go forward with a trial. Defendants can waive that step, but Robinson’s newly appointed attorney Kathryn Nester said her team did not intend to do so.

Utah prosecutors have charged Robinson with aggravated murder and plan to seek the death penalty.

Both the defense and prosecution acknowledged at a brief hearing Monday that the amount of evidence that prosecutors have is “voluminous.” Robinson was not present for the hearing and appeared via audio from jail at his defense team’s request.

Judge Tony Graf set the next hearing for Oct. 30.

Defense attorneys for Robinson and prosecutors with the Utah County attorney’s office declined to comment after Monday’s hearing. It took place in Provo, just a few miles from the Utah Valley University campus in Orem where many students are still processing trauma from the Sept. 10 shooting and the day-and-a-half search for the suspect.

Authorities arrested Robinson when he showed up with his parents at his hometown sheriff’s office in southwest Utah, more than a three-hour drive from the site of the shooting, to turn himself in. Prosecutors have since revealed text messages and DNA evidence that they say connect Robinson to the killing.

A note that Robinson left for his romantic partner before the shooting said he had the opportunity to kill one of the nation’s leading conservative voices, “and I’m going to take it,” Utah County Atty. Jeff Gray told reporters before the first hearing. Gray also said Robinson wrote in a text about Kirk to his partner: “I had enough of his hatred.”

The killing of Kirk, a close ally of President Trump who worked to steer young voters toward conservatism, has galvanized Republicans who have vowed to carry on Kirk’s mission of moving American politics further right.

Trump has declared Kirk a “martyr” for freedom and threatened to crack down on what he called the “radical left.”

Workers across the U.S. have been punished or fired for speaking out about Kirk‘s death, including teachers, public and private employees and media personalities — most notably Jimmy Kimmel, whose late-night show was suspended then reinstated by ABC.

Kirk’s political organization, Arizona-based Turning Point USA, brought young, evangelical Christians into politics through his podcast, social media and campus events. Many prominent Republicans are filling in at the upcoming campus events Kirk planned to attend, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Sen. Mike Lee at Utah State University on Tuesday.

Schoenbaum writes for the Associated Press.

As one way to keep tabs on President Trump’s state of mind, I’m on his email fundraising lists. Lately his 79-year-old mind has seemed to be on his mortality.

“I want to try and get to heaven” has been the subject line on roughly a half-dozen Trump emails since mid-August. Oddly, one arrived earlier this month on the same day that the commander in chief separately posted on social media a meme of himself as “Apocalypse Now” character Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore, satisfyingly surveying the hellish conflagration that his helicopters had wreaked, not on Vietnam but on Chicago. “Chipocalypse” was Trump’s warning to the next U.S. city that he might militarize.

Mixed messages, to be sure.

The president hasn’t limited his celestial contemplations to online outlets. “I want to try and get to heaven, if possible,” he told the hosts of “Fox & Friends” in August, by way of explaining his (failed) effort to bring peace to Ukraine. “I’m hearing I’m not doing well.”

Well, Mr. President, here’s some advice: I don’t think you’ll get to heaven by wishing that many of your fellow citizens go to hell.

The disconnect between Trump’s dreams of eternal reward and his earthly avenging — against Democrat-run cities, political rivals, late-show hosts and other celebrity critics, universities, law firms, cultural institutions, TV networks and newspapers, liberal groups and donors, government employees, insufficiently loyal allies and even harmless protesters at a Washington restaurant — was rarely so evident as it was at the Christian revival that was Sunday’s memorial for the slain MAGA activist Charlie Kirk at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Mere minutes after Erika Kirk, Kirk’s widow and successor as head of the conservative group Turning Point USA, had tearfully forgiven her husband’s accused killer, the president explicitly contradicted her with a message of hate toward his own enemies, and his continued determination to exact revenge.

Erika Kirk spoke of “Charlie’s mission” of engaging his critics and working “to save young men just like the one who took his life.” She recalled the crucified Christ absolving his executioners on Calvary, then emotionally added: “That young man. I forgive him.”

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did and what Charlie would do,” she said to applause. “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer, we know from the Gospel, is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.”

Then it was Trump’s turn.

Just one minute in, he called the 22-year-old suspect “a radicalized cold-blooded monster.” And throughout, despite investigators’ belief that the man acted alone, Trump reiterated for the umpteenth time since Kirk’s death that “radical left lunatics” — his phrase for Democrats — actually were responsible and that the Justice Department would round up those complicit for retribution.

Trump acknowledged that Charlie Kirk probably wouldn’t agree with his approach: “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them.” Then Teleprompter Trump went off script, reverting to real Trump and ad-libbing: “That’s where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don’t want the best for them.” He spat the word “hate” with venom. And he got applause, just as Erika Kirk had for a very different message.

Jesus counseled “turn the other cheek” to rebuke those who harm us. Trump boasts that he always punches back. “If someone screws you, screw them back 10 times harder,” he once said. Love your enemies, as Christ commanded in his Sermon on the Mount? Nah. You heard Trump in Arizona: “I hate my opponent.”

Trump might have some explaining to do when he seeks admittance at the pearly gates.

The Bible’s words aside, a president is supposed to be the comforter in chief after a tragedy and a uniter when divisions rend the American fabric. Think of President Clinton, whose oratory bridged partisan fissures after antigovernment domestic terrorists bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people, and of President George W. Bush, who visited a mosque in Washington after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in a healing gesture intended to blunt rising anti-Muslim reactions. (Later, of course, Bush would cleave the nation by invading Iraq based on a lie about its complicity.)

Trump, by contrast, is the inciter in chief. Just hours after Kirk’s death on Sept. 10, and before a suspect was in custody, he addressed the nation, blaming “radical left political violence.” He has repeated that indictment nearly every day since, though the FBI has reported for years — including during his first term — that domestic right-wing violence is the greater threat. “We have to beat the hell out of them,” Trump told reporters. When even one of his friends on “Fox & Friends” noted radicals are on the right as well, Trump replied: “I couldn’t care less. … The radicals on the left are the problem, and they’re vicious and they’re horrible.”

All of this vituperation and vengeance suggests a big “what if”: What if Trump were more like Charlie Kirk? To ask is not to gloss over Kirk’s controversial utterances against Black Americans, gay and transgender Americans and others, but he did respectfully deal with those who disagreed with him — as he was doing when he was shot.

What if Trump, since 2016, had sincerely tried to broaden his political reach, as presidential nominees and presidents of each party historically did, to embrace his opponents and to compromise with them? What if he governed for all Americans and not just his MAGA voters? He might well have enacted bipartisan laws of the sort that Trump 1.0 promised on immigration, gun safety, infrastructure and more. In general we’d all be better off, less polarized.

And with a more magnanimous approach like that, Trump just might have a better chance at getting into heaven.

Bluesky: @jackiecalmes
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JIMMY Kimmel returned to his show on Tuesday night after ABC yanked him from the air nearly a week ago.

Kimmel, 57, addressed his audience after his show was pulled last week over controversial comments he made about political activist and influencer Charlie Kirk’s shooter.

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During his opening monologue, Kimmel took the time to speak out about free speech and the political climate in America.

The late night host took to the stage as he was welcomed with a standing ovation and chants of “Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.”

The comedian opened the show with a crack, “If you’re just joining us, we are preempting your regularly scheduled encore episode of Celebrity Family Feud to bring you this special report.”

“I’m happy to be here tonight,” he added.

“I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours, me or the CEO of Tylenol,” he said with a chuckle.

Kimmel took the time to thank a slew of friends, including his “fellow late-night talk show hosts, my friend Stephen Colbert who found himself in this predicament. My friend, John Stewart, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Fallon.”

He also thanked the many people who don’t align with his political leanings but who still stood up for his right to say it.

He thanked Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, and then said “and even my old pal Ted Cruz,” before running a sound bite from the Texas senator.

Kimmel then continued “Some of the things they say even make me want to throw up but it takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. They did it. They deserve credit for it.”

ON HIS COMMENTS ON CHARLIE KIRK’S KILLER

The late-night host’s voice cracked as he opened up about the murder of activist Charlie Kirk and cleared the air, denouncing his killing unequivocally.

He continued, “I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said as he fought back tears.

“I posted a message on Instagram the day he was killed, sending love to [Kirk’s] family and asking for compassion, and I meant it, and I still do, nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.”

“That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some that felt either it was ill-timed or unclear or maybe both, and for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset,” he continued.

“If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way. I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to, even though we don’t agree on politics at all, I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone.

“This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution and it isn’t it ever and also, selfishly, I am the person who gets a lot of threats. I get many ugly and scary threats against my life, my wife, my kids, my co workers because of what I choose to say, and I know those threats don’t come from the kind of people on the right who I know and love.”

“So that’s what I wanted to say on that subject,” he continued.

ON RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH

Kimmel then turned to the First Amendment, explaining that he’s spoken with comedians in countries like Russia and the Middle East who said they’d be thrown in jail or worse for making fun of those in power.

“They know how lucky we are here.

“Our freedom to speak is what they admire most about this country, and that’s something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Steven [Colbert] off the air and tried to coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air.

“That’s not legal. That’s not American. That is un-American.”

He then turned his sites to Federal Communications Chairman, Brendan Carr.

“Brendan Carr, the chairman of the FCC, telling an American company, We can do this the easy way or the hard way,’ and that these companies can find ways to change conduct and take action on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead, in addition to being a direct violation of the First Amendment, is not a particularly intelligent threat to make in public,” Kimmel said.

The late night host then shared a clip of President Donald Trump vehemently heralding free speech in a quote in 2022.

He then played another quote from the president, which was from this week, in which he said of Kimmel “Look, he was fired. He had no talent. He’s a whack job, but he had no talent. More importantly, then talent, because a lot of people who have no talent get ratings, he had no ratings,” to which the audience booed.

Kimmel then joked “He tried, did his best to cancel me instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show which backfired ‘bigly.’

“He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now,” to which his audience erupted in raucous applause.

RATINGS BOOST?

As The U.S. Sun previously revealed, ABC execs are expecting Tuesday night’s show will prove a ratings boom.

The source said, “Everybody is excited about Kimmel’s expected ratings boost this week.

“Jimmy is becoming an icon for free speech… and now he’ll be even more secure as long as he plays his cards right.”

However, the late night host’s big return wasn’t aired in all markets.

Affiliate carriers, Sinclair and Nexstar, said they wouldn’t be airing Kimmel’s return on their stations.

“There are ongoing talks this morning [Tuesday] between Nexstar, Sinclair, and Disney, but Disney has drawn the line and is prepared for the fight,” an insider revealed.

On Monday night, Sinclair Broadcasting Group announced its decision to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! across its ABC affiliate stations, replacing the program with local news.

However, an insider pointed out that affiliate stations have contractual obligations to carry ABC programming, including advertisements that have already been sold.

The source alleged, “The affiliates are basically posturing for the White House,” while suggesting that the companies may be attempting to breach their contracts with ABC.

NEXSTAR’S BIG MOVE

Nexstar is seeking approval from the Trump administration’s FCC for an unprecedented acquisition of its competitor, Tegna, according to The New York Times.

If approved, the deal would likely surpass the current cap on households a single media company can reach.

An insider told The U.S. Sun that Disney is ready to take on Sinclair and Nexstar in the ongoing dispute over the suspension of Kimmel Live!

“Disney legal is prepared to fight it out, and right now, from a brand perspective, they’ve got nothing to lose by fighting,” the source said. “Disney holds the cards here.”

When reached for comment by The U.S. Sun, Nexstar declined to respond.

ABC and Sinclair were also contacted for comment.

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LATE NIGHT DRAMA

Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended after backlash erupted over controversial comments the comedian made regarding the suspected assassin of activist and influencer Charlie Kirk.

Just hours before his scheduled return on Tuesday night, Kimmel broke his silence.

The comedian posted a photo of himself with his late friend and producer Norman Lear, captioned, “Missing this guy today.”

KIMMEL RETURNS

On Monday afternoon, ABC issued a statement confirming that “thoughtful discussions” had taken place with Kimmel following his suspension.

The statement read, “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.

“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.

“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

CHAOS ON SET

As The U.S. Sun exclusively revealed last week, the decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! was made just minutes before taping began on Wednesday, September 17th.

“Things transpired very fast. Word filtered down to the individual stations around 3 pm that Jimmy would get pulled, and it sent station heads panicking,” an insider shared.

“Jimmy and the crew were getting ready to film when, at 3:45 pm, news broke widely, and that’s how the crew found out. They were shocked.”

Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, described Kimmel’s remarks as “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”

KIRK’S MURDER

Charlie Kirk was killed on September 10th while speaking with students at Utah Valley University in Orem.

Tyler Robinson, 22, allegedly fired a single shot at Kirk, according to officials.

Robinson turned himself in 33 hours later after confessing the crime to his family, Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirmed.

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CHARLIE Kirk’s grieving widow has said she forgives the man who allegedly assassinated her husband in a heart-wrenching speech.

A distraught Erika Kirk broke down in tears as she took to the stage at her husband Charlie Kirk’s memorial in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday.

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Erika was visibly emotional as she addressed 100,000 people who packed the stadium – including President Donald Trump.

She stunned mourners during her emotional speech saying she forgave her late husband’s killer.

“I forgive him,” she told the crowd, breaking down in tears.

“I forgive him because it was what Christ did. And is what Charlie would do.

“The answer to hate is not hate, the answer we know from the gospel is love and always love.

“After Charlie’s assassination, we didn’t see violence, we didn’t see rioting, we didn’t see revolution.

“Instead, we saw what my husband always prayed he would see in this country. We saw revival [of Christian faith].”

Dressed in a white blazer and matching trousers, Erika thanked attendees for travelling from across the globe to celebrate her late husband.

She told mourners she was living through a “heartache I never knew existed” as she delivered her moving tribute.

Remembering the tragic day of her husband’s assassination, Erika said: “On the afternoon of September 10th, I arrived at a Utah hospital to do the unthinkable: To look directly at my husband’s murdered body.

“I saw the wound that ended his life.”

Erika added: “I will miss him so much.”

The heartbroken widow would end her emotional speech by speaking directly to her late husband in a touching moment.

She said: “I love you Charlie, baby. I will make you so proud.”

President Donald Trump, his Vice President JD Vance and billionaire Elon Musk were also at the huge memorial service at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona — home of the Arizona Cardinals American football team.

Musk told reporters: “Charlie was someone who believed in dialogue and open debate. He was a man of ideas. He spoke eloquently and basically never raised his voice. He was a man of peace and now he has been murdered in cold blood.

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“He was killed because his voice made a difference.

“He was showing people the Light and he was killed by the Dark.”

Vice President JD Vance described Kirk as having built a movement that has “changed the course of American history”.

He told Mr Kirk’s sea of supporters: “They tried to silence my friend Charlie Kirk but we are spreading his message loudly.”

Mr Vance, whose Catholicism has been central to his own political rise and mission, added: “We must remember that he is a hero to the United States of America — and he is a martyr for the Christian faith.”

He noted that the Trump administration was at the memorial not just because of their relationship with Kirk, but because “we wouldn’t be here without him”.

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Kirk was buried on Saturday at a private funeral in Arizona attended by friends and family.

Tearful fans queued up for 12 hours for the first-come, first-admitted service organised by Turning Point USA, the high school organisation set up by Kirk to help spread conservative politics on campuses.

Some wore black, others attended in flag-emblazoned T-shirts and Make America Great Again hats.

Sporting a Trump T-shirt, Aaron Knight, 28, from Houston, Texas, reckoned: “Charlie Kirk was a godly Christian man.

“He provided a sacrifice for this country and the fight for free speech. We are here in mourning but also celebration for the incredible man he was.”

Ashley January, 35, brought her seven-month-old baby Theodore from Kansas to “witness history”. She said she and husband Skylar “fell in love with Charlie after seeing him in Kansas.”

She added: “We want to raise our son to have the same morals as him. It’s going to be something Theo will read in his history books and he can say he was there.”

A man said he had camped out from 8pm the night before.
One woman even brought a buggy full of puppies with her.

The nearby Desert Diamond Arena served as overflow for an additional 19,000 people who watched the event on TV screens.

Kirk, 31, was shot dead while giving a speech at Utah Valley University earlier this month.

Tyler Robinson, 22, is charged with aggravated murder.
He is in custody and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Yesterday Mrs Kirk told the New York Times she could not say if he deserved to die as well.

She said: “I told our lawyer, I want the government to decide this. I do not want that man’s blood on my ledger.

“When I get to heaven, and Jesus is like, ‘Uh, eye for an eye? Is that how we do it?’.

“And that keeps me from being in heaven, from being with Charlie?”

Before the service started, photos of Kirk were projected on big screens accompanied by a playlist of praise and worship songs.

Among those paying respects and giving speeches were President Trump’s eldest son Donald Trump Jr, right-wing political commentator Tucker Carlson and homeland security adviser and White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller.

Kirk founded Turning Point USA — whose headquarters are in Phoenix — in 2012, at the age of 18.

Mrs Kirk has been unanimously elected to succeed her late husband as CEO of the organisation.

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EPA

‘I forgive him’

Reuters

GLENDALE, Ariz. — President Trump and prominent members of his Make America Great Again movement paid tribute Sunday to Charlie Kirk, praising the slain political conservative activist as a singular force whose work they must now advance.

The memorial service for Kirk, whom the president credits with playing a pivotal role in his 2024 election victory, drew tens of thousands of mourners, including Trump and Vice President JD Vance, other senior administration officials and young conservatives shaped by the 31-year-old firebrand.

Speakers highlighted Kirk’s profound faith and his strong belief that young conservatives need to get married, build families and pass on their values to keep building their movement. Those close to Kirk prayed and the floors shook from the bass of Christian rock bands as the home of the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals took on the feel of a megachurch service.

“Charlie looked at politics as an onramp to Jesus,” said the Rev. Rob McCoy, Kirk’s pastor.

Kirk’s killing at a Sept. 10 appearance on a Utah college campus has become a singular moment for the modern-day conservative movement. It also has set off a fierce national debate about violence and free speech in an era of deepening political division.

The shooting has stirred concern among some Americans who say that Trump is harnessing outrage over the killing as justification to suppress the voices of his critics and target political opponents.

High security and a full stadium

People began lining up before dawn to secure a spot inside State Farm Stadium west of Phoenix, where Kirk’s Turning Point organization is based. Security was tight, similar to the Super Bowl and similar high-profile events.

The 63,400-seat stadium quickly filled with people dressed in red, white and blue, as organizers suggested.

“I think that this is going to change things, and I think he made such a difference,” said Crystal Herman, who traveled from Branson, Mo. “He deserves us to be here.”

Photos of Kirk at work or with his wife, Erika, were on easels throughout the concession areas of the main concourse level. Some people posed for photos next to them.

“We’re going to celebrate the life of a great man today,” Trump told reporters before heading to Arizona. He said he was bracing for a “tough day.”

Trump has blamed the “radical left” for Kirk’s death and threatened to go after liberal organizations and donors or others he deems to be maligning Kirk or celebrating his death.

Many people, including journalists, teachers and late-show host Jimmy Kimmel have faced suspensions or lost their jobs as prominent conservative activists and administration officials target comments about Kirk that they deem offensive. The retaliation has in turn ignited a debate over the 1st Amendment as the Republican administration promises retribution against those who air remarks to which it objects.

Kirk was a provocateur who at times made statements seen by many as racist, misogynistic, anti-immigrant and transphobic. That has drawn backlash from some conservatives who cast the criticism as cherry-picking a few select moments to insult the legacy of someone they see as an inspirational leader.

A 22-year-old Utah man, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with killing Kirk and faces the death penalty if convicted of the most serious charges. Authorities have not revealed a clear motive in the shooting, but prosecutors say Robinson wrote in a text to his partner after the shooting that he “had enough” of what he considered to be Kirk’s hatred.

Kirk’s legacy

Turning Point, the group Kirk founded to mobilize young Christian conservatives, became a multimillion-dollar operation under his leadership with enormous reach.

“Charlie’s having some serious heavenly FOMO right now,” Turning Point Chief Executive Tyler Bower said, likening the moment to bringing “the Holy Spirit into a Trump rally.”

The crowd was a testament to the massive influence Kirk accumulated in conservative America with his ability to mobilize young people.

“I think he spoke on more than just politics,” Michael Link, 29, said outside the stadium. “Now that he’s gone, it’s like, who’s gonna speak for us now?”

His impact on modern-day conservatism went beyond U.S. shores.

Kirk “was very effective because he was convinced of his views and knew how to argue them,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said at a political rally Sunday in Rome. “But he never stopped smiling, never stopped respecting his interlocutor and anyone who challenged him.”

Kirk was a MAGA celebrity with a loyal following that turned out to support or argue with him as he traveled the country for the events like the one at Utah Valley University, where he was shot. Kirk expanded the organization, in large part through the force of his personality and debating chops.

Arizona is the adopted home state of Kirk, who grew up outside Chicago and founded Turning Point there before moving the organization to Phoenix. Vance has said Kirk’s advocacy was a big reason Trump picked him as his vice presidential running mate last year.

Scheduled speakers at the service included Trump, Vance, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard. Donald Trump Jr., right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson and White House aides Stephen Miller and Sergio Gor also were set to speak.

Also scheduled to speak was Kirk’s widow, who has been named Turning Point’s new leader and has pledged that “the movement my husband built will not die.”

Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, whose official residence was set ablaze by a suspected arsonist in April while the governor was celebrating Passover with his family and friends inside, said in a television interview broadcast Sunday that Americans must now come together to find “our better angels.”

“We’ve got to universally condemn political violence no matter where it is,” Shapiro said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

Cooper, Garcia and Madhani write for the Associated Press. Cooper and Garcia reported from Glendale, Madhani from Washington. AP writers Tiffany Stanley in Washington, Silvia Stellacci in Rome and Terry Tang contributed to this report.

US President Donald Trump to address Arizona service for assassinated ally.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend a memorial service in Arizona for Charlie Kirk, the right-wing United States activist and founder of Turning Point USA who was shot dead this month.

The event will take place on Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, which seats more than 63,000 people. Organisers said additional space has been arranged nearby to accommodate overflow crowds.

President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and several other Republicans will address the gathering, which Turning Point USA has called Building a Legacy: Remembering Charlie Kirk. Kirk’s widow, Erika, who recently became the organisation’s chief executive, is also expected to speak.

The Department of Homeland Security has classified the service as an event of “the highest national significance”, a designation usually reserved for occasions such as the Super Bowl. Officials said tight security measures are in place due to Trump’s attendance and the political tension surrounding Kirk’s killing.

Kirk, 31, was killed on September 10 during a university event in Utah. Police charged a 22-year-old suspect with murder, saying he carried out the attack alone and killed Kirk because he had “enough of his hate”.

Kirk was a polarising figure who called for the use of tear gas, rubber bullets and whips against immigrants at the US-Mexico border; suggested Islam is a danger to American society; and claimed there was “no factual data to back up global warming”.

The US right-wing viewed Kirk as a major figure in the Trump movement who played a pivotal role in building support for the US president and conservative causes among young people.

Trump has been accused of exploiting Kirk’s murder for political gain by linking the killing to what he calls “left-wing extremism” despite law enforcement dismissing claims of a wider alleged assassination plot. His remarks have drawn criticism from opponents who accused him of inflaming political divisions.

Kirk established Turning Point USA in 2012 at the age of 18. The organisation has grown into one of the largest right-wing groups in the US with influence across high schools, universities and social media platforms.

As thousands gather for Charlie Kirk’s memorial, debate rages over a clampdown on free speech in the US. Late-night TV hosts have spoken out in support of Jimmy Kimmel following his cancellation, while President Donald Trump reiterated his view that critical coverage of him is illegal.

Sept. 20 (UPI) — Authorities detained an armed man who was pretending to be affiliated with law enforcement at the location of Sunday’s planned memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

The man has not been identified or officially arrested but was armed when local and U.S. Secret Service agents detained him overnight at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., officials confirmed on Saturday.

Officials said the man was “exhibiting suspicious behavior” when he was detained and told police and the Secret Service he was affiliated with law enforcement.

Police confirmed he is not a member of any law enforcement agency and are looking into why he was at that location.

The memorial for Kirk is scheduled to take place Sunday at the stadium, which can hold more than 63,000 people.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance are expected to speak at the memorial for Kirk, who was shot and killed earlier this month while on stage at a speaking event in Utah.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has given the event a Special Event Assessment Rating Level 1 designation.

DHS and several other federal agencies are warning of possible security threats at the event from “violent extremists and unaffiliated lone offenders,” according to an unclassified assessment obtained by the Arizona Mirror.

The event begins at 11 a.m. MST.

Possible security threats “may view the memorial service or related events as attractive attack targets due to the attendance of these individuals, other senior US government officials, state and local government officials, and political activists, and due to major international media attention,” the assessment reads.

Staff who work on Jimmy Kimmel Live! must wait to find out if they still have jobs after the show was axed this week over comments that angered President Trump

Staff who work on Jimmy Kimmel Live! have been given an update on their jobs after the show was pulled off air following comments host Jimmy made about Charlie Kirk, the US political activist shot dead earlier this month.

The 57-year-old TV host and comedian’s show was axed after he suggested Kirk’s suspected shooter Tyler Robinson, 22, was Republican and that the ‘MAGA gang’ were “working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk”.

During Monday’s broadcast, Kimmel opened the show saying: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterise this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

He then went on to mock President Trump’s response to a question from the press about how he was mourning Kirk’s death, which lead to the world leader bafflingly talking about the White House’s new ballroom construction instead.

READ MORE: Jimmy Kimmel’s wife warns ‘please don’t read this’ in ‘regretful’ Donald Trump move

Kirk was killed aged 31 as he spoke at an event at Utah Valley University on September 10. Robinson has since appeared in court, facing charges of aggravated murder over his death.

ABC, which airs Kimmel’s show, said it would not be showing Jimmy Kimmel Live! “for the foreseeable future”. While the network’s affiliate group, Nexstar Communications, called Kimmel’s comments “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”.

Disney, who owns ABC, wanted Kimmel to apologise for his comments around the killer of Charlie Kirk. While Kimmel had informed Disney bosses that he planned to address his remarks on Wednesday’s episode, he said he was not willing to say sorry.

Though the show has been axed for now and staff were seen packing up and leaving the Hollywood studio this week, it’s reported they will still be paid while an agreement for the late night talk show is reached, suggesting it could well be back on air soon.

According to Deadline, a note was sent out to staff this week to inform them of the move as talks between the company and Kimmel continue.

What Kimmel will do next remains to be seen, but he is said to be popular with colleagues and is not thought to want any decision he makes to negatively impact them, particularly after many were hit by writers’ strikes, LA wildfires and the pandemic in recent years.

But the decision to axe Kimmel’s show will likely please one person more than any other. Celebrating on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “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.

“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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United States television host Jimmy Kimmel’s live show was pulled off the air by Disney-owned ABC after he made comments about conservative influencer Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot last week in what has been deemed by right-wingers in the US a political assassination.

But critics claim Kimmel’s removal is a violation of his free speech rights, which are enshrined under the US Constitution’s First Amendment.

On Thursday, hundreds of Kimmel fans gathered on the streets in Burbank, New York and Hollywood, protesting the removal of his show.

Here is a closer look at what happened and what the US Constitution says about free speech rights.

What happened to Jimmy Kimmel?

Conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was shot and killed in front of a crowd of about 3,000 people on September 10 while he was speaking at a university event in Utah.

After a 33-hour manhunt, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson was arrested on suspicion of killing Kirk. Robinson has since been charged with aggravated murder.

Some right-wing figures, affiliated with US President Donald Trump’s MAGA (Make America Great Again) wing, have described Robinson as “left-wing”.

On Monday, Kimmel said on his show: “The MAGA gang (is) desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Kimmel continued, criticising the response by Trump – who described Kirk as being “like a son” – to his death. “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,” Kimmel said.

Following a backlash, broadcasters Nexstar and Sinclair said they would pull Kimmel’s late-night show from their affiliated stations.

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), also said he had a strong case for taking legal action against Kimmel, Disney and ABC.

Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC, criticised Carr’s response in an interview with CNN. “This administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression,” Gomez said.

The FCC has the authority to grant licences to broadcasters, including ABC and its affiliated stations.

Democratic critics have said that pulling his show off the air is an infringement of Kimmel’s right to free speech, as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

What does the First Amendment say?

The First Amendment protects free speech from government interference. It states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

In 1963, the US Supreme Court issued a key ruling that the government cannot create a “system of informal censorship” by putting pressure on private companies.

This was issued after a Rhode Island agency had threatened to prosecute book and magazine distributors for selling publications it considered objectionable.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that, in such situations, plaintiffs must demonstrate that the government’s actions exceeded allowable persuasion and directly caused them harm.

Was the removal of Kimmel’s show unconstitutional?

Experts say Kimmel’s show being pulled is unconstitutional since it infringes the free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.

Ronnie London, a general counsel with free speech advocacy group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told PolitiFact that Carr’s actions are “a classic case of unconstitutional jawboning”, which means improperly using government threats to pursue policy goals.

“The FCC has long held that ‘the public interest is best served by permitting free expression of views,’” the FCC says on its website.

“Rather than suppress speech, communications law and policy seek to encourage responsive ‘counter-speech’ from others. Following this principle ensures that the most diverse and opposing opinions will be expressed, even though some views or expressions may be highly offensive.”

How have people reacted to Kimmel’s removal?

Many Democrats, politicians, Hollywood stars and fellow talk-show hosts have stressed the importance of protecting free speech rights.

Former US President Barack Obama shared a series of articles and commentary on X on Friday, saying: “This commentary offers a clear, powerful statement of why freedom of speech is at the heart of democracy and must be defended, whether the speaker is Charlie Kirk or Jimmy Kimmel, MAGA supporters or MAGA opponents.”

This commentary offers a clear, powerful statement of why freedom of speech is at the heart of democracy and must be defended, whether the speaker is Charlie Kirk or Jimmy Kimmel, MAGA supporters or MAGA opponents.

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) September 19, 2025

In another post, Obama wrote: “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent – and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”

Former late-night host David Letterman said during an event in New York on Thursday: “I feel bad about this, because we all see where this is going, correct? It’s managed media. It’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous.”

Ken Martin, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement: “The state under Donald Trump has amassed a chilling record of restricting speech, extorting private companies, and dropping the full weight of the government censorship hammer on First Amendment rights.”

Democratic California Senator Adam Schiff posted on X on Thursday: “This administration is responsible for the most blatant attacks on the free press in American history. What will be left of the First Amendment?”

By contrast, the suspension of Kimmel’s show has drawn celebration from the political right.

“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“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. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC,” Trump continued, referring to late-night show hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.

Conservative podcaster Megyn Kelly wrote on X on Thursday: “I’m not sure who needs to hear this but Jimmy Kimmel got on the air and falsely stated as a fact that Charlie Kirk’s killer was MAGA, smearing an entire movement and Trump in particular with a vile disgusting lie.”

Disney-owned ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air indefinitely after the host caused controversy with remarks about Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer.

“Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said, declining to share any further details.

Prosecutors have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with Kirk’s murder. Robinson is accused of having shot and killed Kirk while the conservative activist was speaking at Utah Valley University on September 10. Robinson surrendered after a two-day manhunt.

Here’s what Kimmel said that led to outrage among conservatives, and what the ABC and others have said since:

What happened?

In his opening monologue on Monday, Kimmel, a vocal critic of US President Donald Trump, accused “the MAGA gang” of trying to “score political points” from Kirk’s murder, saying they were quick to blame the left before much was known about the shooter’s motives. MAGA, or “Make America Great Again”, is the right-wing political movement that forms Trump’s base.

“The MAGA gang (is) desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on his show. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving,” he added.

He continued to criticise 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,” Kimmel added.

The remarks angered conservatives and triggered pushback from the Trump administration.

Brian Kilmeade can keep his job after saying we should kill the homeless, but Jimmy Kimmel gets suspended for this? pic.twitter.com/now6OJqQ8r

— Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) September 18, 2025

“What he said on Monday was he suggested the suspected shooter of Charlie Kirk was a pro-Trump Republican,” Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro noted, adding that Kimmel spoke before authorities released text messages showing the suspected killer was actually politically opposed to Kirk.

The next day, Robinson appeared in court, charged with aggravated murder. A precise motive remains unclear, but in court documents, prosecutors have cited his relatives telling them that he had veered to the left politically in recent years, and thought Kirk was full of hate.

In text messages to his flatmate and romantic partner after Kirk’s assassination, Robinson said: “I had enough of his hatred.” Then, in a separate message, he added: “Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”

Yet Kimmel returned to the topic on Tuesday night, where he accused Trump of “fanning the flames” by attacking people on the left. The Trump administration has said it will crack down on left-wing groups, whom it accuses of ratcheting up hate against conservatives. On Wednesday, Trump also said that he planned to designate the Antifa left-wing political movement a “terrorist” organisation.

Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson on Wednesday that he had a strong case for taking action against Kimmel, ABC and Disney. The FCC is responsible for granting licences to broadcasters such as the ABC and its affiliates.

“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,” Carr said. “They have a licence granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”

According to a Bloomberg report, quoting sources, Kimmel had planned to address the backlash on his show on Wednesday and rehearsed it that morning.

Carr also urged media companies that own local television stations to “push back”.

What was the fallout?

Nexstar, which owns several ABC affiliates, appeared to follow that call, announcing it would drop Jimmy Kimmel Live from its affiliates even before ABC itself confirmed the suspension.

The company said on Wednesday it would not air the show “for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show”.

Kimmel’s remarks about Kirk were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” Nexstar added.

Carr expressed approval for Nexstar’s decision, thanking them “for doing the right thing”.

Nexstar, which describes itself as the country’s largest local television and media company, needs FCC approval for its $6.2bn deal to acquire smaller rival Tegna.

I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing.

Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community… https://t.co/Px5boYbqNR

— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) September 17, 2025

What was Trump’s reaction?

Trump described it as “great news for America” shortly after ABC revealed Kimmel had been suspended.

“The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump said.

He then criticised two other late-night hosts, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, who he described as “two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible.”

JD Vance, the US vice president, earlier this week urged Americans to turn in fellow citizens who mocked the assassination.

In July, after CBS cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Trump said: “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!”

CBS said the ‘Late Show’ was dropped for financial reasons but its timing, three days after Colbert blasted a settlement between Trump and CBS parent company Paramount, led two senators to question whether politics were at play.

“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…” – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/Vhj6DQSssu

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 18, 2025

Who is Jimmy Kimmel?

Jimmy Kimmel is among the most recognisable figures in US late-night television. He has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC since 2003, making him one of the longest-serving talk-show hosts still on air.

Before breaking into television, Kimmel built his career in radio, working as a host in Seattle, Tampa, and Tucson before eventually moving to Los Angeles, where he transitioned into TV.

Over the years, Kimmel has become known for his monologues, celebrity interviews and viral comedy segments. He has also taken on a more political edge in recent years, frequently criticising Trump and weighing in on social debates.

Kimmel has also hosted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, which won him an Emmy, and big live events like the Oscars.

In recent years, according to reports, Kimmel has scaled back his workload, often taking summers off from the show. His current contract with ABC is set to expire in less than a year, raising questions about whether he will extend his run or step away after two decades on air.

When his contract extension was announced, he joked, “After two decades at ABC, I am now looking forward to three years of what they call ‘quiet quitting.’”

How popular was his show?

Late-night viewership, like much of traditional television, has been declining as audiences migrate to streaming platforms and social media.

According to Nielsen, a United States media audience measurement firm, Jimmy Kimmel Live drew an average of 1.57 million viewers per episode during the broadcast season that ended in May.

During the same period, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert led the field, averaging 1.9 million viewers.

The US Television Database showed Jimmy Kimmel Live attracting about 1.1 million viewers per episode – a 0.35 percent rating, down 11 percent from the previous month – based on audience measurements for the period ending August 31, 2025.

The deluge of conspiracy theories began almost the moment authorities revealed the text messages allegedly sent by the suspected assassin of right-wing American activist Charlie Kirk.

After prosecutors in the US state of Utah published alleged text exchanges between 22-year-old Tyler Robinson and his romantic partner on Tuesday, countless social media users, including numerous prominent influencers, cast doubt on their authenticity.

Some outright claimed that the texts, in which Robinson appears to confess to killing Kirk, had been fabricated by authorities.

Many of the posts suggested that the language and tone of the exchanges did not match someone of Robinson’s age, and the account of the shooting was too forthcoming and detailed to be believable.

Notably, at a time of extreme political polarisation in the US, the conspiracy theorising united figures on the left and right.

Matt Walsh, a right-wing commentator and podcast host with millions of followers on X and YouTube, suggested the exchanges had been scripted to absolve Robinson’s transgender partner of any involvement in the shooting.

“This feels like a strategy they cooked up from watching too much TV,” Walsh said on X.

Utah Governor Spencer Cox has said that the partner, described as a “male transitioning to female”, had no advance knowledge of the crime and has been cooperating fully with authorities.

Steven Bannon, US President Donald Trump’s former adviser, said on his podcast that he was “not buying” the texts, describing them as “too stilted, too much like a script”.

On the other side of the political spectrum, Majid Padellan, a progressive influencer who goes by Brooklyn Dad Defiant on social media, said he did not believe for “one second” that the texts had been written by Robinson.

“I didn’t know him personally, but I know that no 22 year old writes text messages like this,” Padellan said on X.

“This feels like that Steve Buscemi skateboard meme ‘How do you do, fellow kids?”’

Liberal commentator Joanne Carducci, who posts under the moniker JoJoFromJerz, noted that the official narrative around the assassination had prompted rare agreement across the ideological divide.

“No one is buying these text messages. No one on the left or the right,” Carducci said on X.

“We cannot agree on a damn thing anymore. But we agree on this. If that doesn’t speak volumes, nothing does.”

The Utah County Attorney did not respond to a request for comment about the claims online.

Speculation and conspiracy theories have become a routine feature of the reaction to high-profile acts of violence in the US in the polarised and trigger-happy landscape of social media and online forums.

After a gunman shot dead a Minnesota state lawmaker and her husband in June, right-wing conspiracy theorists claimed that the shooting had been perpetrated by a left-wing extremist or carried out on behalf of the state’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz.

The alleged gunman, Vance Boelter, espoused staunchly conservative views on issues including abortion and LGBTQ rights.

The 2022 mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas; the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida; and the 2017 Las Vegas shooting all spawned right-wing conspiracy theories, including the claim that the attacks had been staged to give the US government a pretext to curtail gun rights.

While many conspiracy theories have been driven by a particular ideological faction, Kirk’s assassination is the latest event to fuel unfounded claims with “cross-ideological appeal”, said Eric Oliver, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago who studies conspiracy theories.

Claims about Robinson fit the mould of theories about the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the pharmaceutical industry, which also cut across partisan and ideological lines, Oliver said.

“People are also really emotionally charged by this, both on the left and the right, and will often gravitate to stories that rationalise their fear, rage, or feelings of powerlessness,” Oliver told Al Jazeera.

The “extraordinary circumstances” of Kirk’s murder, including a relative lack of information about Robinson, had also left a vacuum that was being filled by people “already suspicious of anything either the government does or this administration does”, Oliver added.

The transcripts of Robinson’s alleged texts released by prosecutors provided some of the clearest indications yet of a possible motive for assassinating Kirk, who was lauded by conservatives but seen as an inflammatory figure on the left for his right-wing stances on immigration, abortion and transgender rights, among other issues.

Robinson allegedly told his partner that he had “had enough” of Kirk’s “hatred” and “some hate can’t be negotiated out”.

Authorities previously announced that they recovered bullet casings inscribed with a number of politically-charged and internet subculture-influenced messages, including “Hey fascist! Catch!”

Prosecutors, who allege Kirk was targeted over his “political expression”, have charged Robinson with aggravated murder and six other charges.

That the released details of Robinson’s alleged communication with his partner after Kirk’s assassination have only further fuelled conspiracies is not surprising, suggest experts.

“Many people have a worldview in which conspiracies are going on all the time and explain our social and political circumstances – those people believe lots and lots of conspiracy theories and exist on both the right and left,” said Joseph Uscinski, a professor of political science at the University of Miami, whose research focuses on conspiracy theories.

And though conspiracy theorising has become rampant on social media, the platforms themselves are not the problem, Uscinski said.

“People have worldviews; some of those worldviews make conspiracy theories easy to believe, whether those people are on social media or not,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Conspiracy theories existed long before social media and may have been more prominent then. We have to remember that people seek out content on social media that they like; they are not necessarily persuaded by social media content as much as they are attracted to content that tells them what they already believe.”

Kimmel’s cancellation is the latest in a spate of firings related to comments made about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

United States television network ABC has announced it will indefinitely cease airing Jimmy Kimmel Live due to comments made by the popular chat show’s host about the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

Walt Disney-owned ABC said on Wednesday the show would be “preempted indefinitely” due to Kimmel’s comments suggesting the man charged with Kirk’s assassination in Utah last week, Tyler Robinson, is a supporter of US President Donald Trump.

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on Monday in a monologue on his long-running late-night talk show.

Earlier, Nexstar Media, one of the country’s largest local TV station owners, including at least 28 ABC affiliates, announced it would stop airing the show over Kimmel’s remarks about the Kirk killing.

Announcing the move, Nexstar Media President Andrew Alford said Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”.

“We do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” he said.

While Utah prosecutors have formally charged Robinson with the murder of Charlie Kirk and said they will seek the death penalty, questions remain about a possible motive.

Kimmel’s comments also drew condemnation on Wednesday from Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the independent US government TV, radio and internet regulator.

In an interview with right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson, Carr described Kimmel’s comments as “the sickest conduct possible”, and he also appeared to threaten ABC affiliate licences over the presenter’s remarks.

“What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters … have a licence granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr said.

Carr explicitly called on ABC affiliates to “push back” on the network’s airing of Jimmy Kimmel Live as they run the risk of ” licence revocation” due to a “pattern of news distortion”.

“When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” he said.

Following news of Kimmel’s cancellation on Nexstar, Carr told The Hollywood Reporter news outlet he wanted to thank the firm “for doing the right thing”.

At least one other station group had contacted ABC about the Kimmel show, suggesting that an affiliate revolt may have played a role in the decision, an unnamed source told The Hollywood Reporter.

Kimmel’s cancellation is the latest in a spate of firings over the past week, brought on by a conservative backlash to public comments about Kirk’s killing that have been deemed insensitive.

Conservatives have mourned Kirk as a martyr who championed patriotism, open debate and Christian values. Others have rebuked his divisive views, including on immigration and Islamophobia, with some also celebrating his death.

Journalists, academics and doctors are among those who have been fired or investigated by their employers over comments made about Kirk, mirroring the much-maligned cancellation campaigns of recent years associated with America’s left and sparking debate over the limits of free speech in the US.