Inside Jimmy Kimmel's Controversial Jokes About Charlie Kirk's Assassination: Late-Night Host Was Aware Job Was 'in Jeopardy,' Source Claims

Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air temporarily after he made a controversial joke about Charlie Kirk's assassination.

Ahead of the first anniversary of the conservative commentator's death, RadarOnline.com revisits the Jimmy Kimmel Live host's controversial remarks and the subsequent fallout.

Kirk was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University.

Several days later, Kimmel appeared to imply President Donald Trump was nonchalant about Kirk's death.

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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," he said at the time. "In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving on Friday. The White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this."

The show then shared a clip of a reporter asking Trump, 80, how he's handling the passing of the conservative activist.

"I think very good. And by the way, right there you see all the trucks," the POTUS responded. "They've just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they've been trying to get, as you know, for about 150 years, and it's going to be a beauty."

Following the clip, Kimmel quipped, "Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief, construction. Demolition. Construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish."

Later that week, ABC confirmed to NPR that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was being pulled from the lineup "indefinitely."

On September 17, Trump also took to Truth Social and celebrated Kimmel being taken off the air.

"Great News for America: The ratings-challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," he claimed, although the show had not been officially axed. "Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even (Steven) Colbert, if that’s possible."

However, several celebrities spoke out in support of Kimmel, including Ben Stiller, Jamie Lee Curtis, Wanda Sykes, Josh Gad and Stephen Colbert.

Kimmel returned to his television career on September 23, 2025, and claimed that it hadn't been his intention to "make light of the murder of a young man."

"I don't think there's anything funny about it," he told viewers at the time. "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."

Despite his return, according to a source, Kimmel was "far from out of the woods" at the time.

"He must know that this is only a temporary reprieve and that his job is still very much in jeopardy," the source told Radar in resurfaced comments, noting that Kimmel had been "really struggling" with the situation.

This comes amid rumors that Kimmel's contract will not be extended by ABC next year. Page Six reported the show is set to end in 2027 after more than two decades on air.

However, a spokesperson for ABC told Us Weekly, "This information is inaccurate — any reports about the future of the show at this point are purely speculative."