Former Disney CEO Bob Iger breaks silence on Kimmel suspension over Charlie Kirk remarks

Former Disney chief executive Bob Iger has broken his silence on the company’s decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from ABC last fall, saying the move was driven by the content of Kimmel’s on-air remarks about the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk — not by pressure from the Trump administration.

In an interview with the Financial Times published Wednesday, Mr. Iger, who stepped down as Disney CEO in March after holding the position from 2005 to 2020 and again from 2022 to 2026, pushed back on the widespread perception that the company had capitulated to political pressure.

“That was not the case,” he said. “We thought it was in bad taste.”

Mr. Iger also said the company had asked Mr. Kimmel to acknowledge the misstep rather than issue a formal apology.

“We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment,” he said.

Kirk, the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed on Sept. 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, as part of his “American Comeback Tour.” Five days after the killing, Mr. Kimmel addressed the aftermath in his monologue, suggesting that Tyler Robinson, Kirk’s alleged assassin, was a member of what Mr. Kimmel called the “MAGA gang.” He accused conservatives of exploiting the killing for political gain.

The remarks drew immediate backlash from conservative media and government officials. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issued a pointed warning on a podcast, saying broadcasters could resolve the matter “the easy way or the hard way.” Nexstar and Sinclair, whose affiliate stations carry ABC programming, announced they would pull the show from their markets. ABC subsequently announced that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would be preempted indefinitely. The suspension ran from Sept. 17 through Sept. 22, 2025.

The decision sparked its own backlash. Hollywood unions, civil liberties organizations, Democratic officials and some Republicans condemned the move as a capitulation to government pressure. Negotiations continued behind the scenes among Mr. Iger, Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden and Kimmel’s team before the show was ultimately allowed to return.

Mr. Kimmel did not apologize upon returning. His comeback monologue was instead defiant, clarifying that he had not intended to trivialize Kirk’s death while taking direct aim at the pressure campaign that had removed him from the air. The broadcast drew 8.6 million viewers, making it the highest-rated episode in the show’s history, according to Nielsen Live+3 day ratings.

In a subsequent interview with Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw, Mr. Kimmel said he had not perceived his original comments as problematic.

“I didn’t think there was a big problem,” Mr. Kimmel said. “I just saw it as distortion on the part of some of the right-wing media networks, and I aimed to correct it.”

He said he only grasped the severity of the situation when the show was pulled from the air, and acknowledged in retrospect that the time off had been useful.

“I can sometimes be reactionary. I can sometimes be aggressive,” he said. “I think that it helped me, really, having those days to think about it.”

Mr. Kimmel also maintained that his remarks had been deliberately distorted.

“It was intentionally, and I think maliciously, mischaracterized,” he said, adding that the episode had been deeply unfair to his employers. “I don’t think anyone should ever be put in a position like this. It is insane.”

On the subject of a separate, more recent controversy — in which Kimmel joked about Melania Trump having a glow “like an expectant widow” days before an alleged assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents’ dinner — Mr. Iger told the Financial Times that he stood fully behind Disney’s decision not to take action against Kimmel that time.

“I’m thoroughly supportive,” he said. “It’s what we anticipated needing to do if the government’s threats turned into action.”