Hollywood and the media industry at large has continued throwing their support behind Jimmy Kimmel and the team behind Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The ABC late night show was suddenly taken off the air "indefinitely" following comments made about the death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. The entertainment world has reacted negatively to the network's decision to cancel the show so abruptly, triggering a boycott of parent company Disney products, and even sparking discourse among more conservative circles over the curbing of free speech.
In the meantime, it looks like there's no official update on when the show will eventually return, per a staff member from the Jimmy Kimmel Live! team. Speaking with People, one of the show's employees revealed that as of writing, they "don't know anything," adding: "We're all on standby." The show is currently still on hiatus.
© Getty Images"Jimmy and the producers have had to keep this close to the vest," they continued. Per their comments, "there's been nothing" from the network so far on the status of the show. "We're just hoping that we're gonna hear something soon and hopefully it's good. I'm not ready to admit that it's over."
The employee shared some insight on what happened the night of the cancellation, Wednesday September 17, saying it was "very quick and very shocking. It was a big shock to everybody." The news came just hours before going on the air, after they'd already prepped the entire show, following which the entire staff had a big meeting before dispersing.
© Getty ImagesTo recap, on Monday, September 15's show, in response to Charlie's death, Jimmy said: "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…"
© Getty Images"And 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 cut to a clip of President Donald Trump deflecting a question on his death and instead discussing the new multi-million bathroom being built at the White House. "It's going to be a beauty," Jimmy quipped.
© Getty ImagesFellow members of the late night circuit have spoken out in support of Jimmy as well. Stephen Colbert, himself facing a limited run on the air following the cancellation of his own show by CBS, stated: "Now, regardless of what you think, that has already been done and how that looks, this is weak. This is blatant censorship."
© Getty ImagesJon Stewart hosted a special edition of The Daily Show, satirizing a "patriotically obedient host" and saying: "Naysayers may argue that this administration’s speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy. A thin gruel of a ruse. A smokescreen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitary intimidation, principle-less and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance. Some people would say that. Not me though, I think it's great." Others like Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon have also shown their support.
