Earlier this week, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended indefinitely following comments that host Jimmy Kimmel made about the way that president Donald Trump reacted to the death of Charlie Kirk. And now, broadcasting company Sinclair, which owns the largest ABC affiliates group, has made a demand list about what Jimmy must do before they’ll consider lifting the suspension of his show on the stations they own — including making a payment to Charlie’s family.
Sinclair wants an apology.
In a statement published by People, Sinclair’s vice chairman, Jason Smith, called Jimmy’s comments “inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country.”
Not only is the company asking that ABC have “formal discussions” to commit to “professionalism and accountability” going forward, but they also believe that Jimmy needs to “issue a direct apology to the Kirk family.”
The comments Jimmy made that led to his suspension didn’t mention Charlie or his family directly; instead, he was speaking about the way that Trump’s supporters have reacted to the shooting.
“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,” Jimmy said during his monologue on Monday’s episode. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
They also want Jimmy to contribute financially to Charlie Kirk’s family and his cause.
According to Sinclair, Jimmy apologizing for what he said isn’t enough — he needs to put his money where his mouth is, too. Their spokesperson went on to say that Jimmy needs to make a “meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.”
After Charlie’s death, a fundraiser was launched on the platform GiveSendGo for fans to donate directly to Charlie’s widow, Erika, and their two children. So far, they’ve managed to raise over $2 million.
People are calling the demands “extortion.”
“When a broadcaster demands an apology and a donation before letting Jimmy Kimmel back on air, that’s not ‘standards’ — that’s extortion with a patriotic bow on top. Free speech isn’t supposed to come with a price tag,” one person on X wrote.
Another X post read, “He should NOT apologize. He never celebrated the death or advocated violence, and nothing he said was incorrect. Why would he, they fired him?”
Jimmy has yet to speak out personally about his show being suspended or about the demands that Sinclair is making of him.
