Former Disney CEO Bob Iger is defending the company’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel after comments the late-night host made following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, saying Disney viewed the remarks as “in bad taste.”
In an interview with the Financial Times published Saturday, Iger said that Disney removing “Jimmy Kimmel Live” was not to appease the Trump administration, but instead due to comments Kimmel made in September after the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
“That was not the case,” Iger said. “We thought it was in bad taste.”
Iger said Kimmel was asked to apologize, saying, “We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment.”
In September, Kimmel suggested that Kirk’s suspected assassin, Tyler Robinson, was a member of the “MAGA gang.”
“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,” Kimmel said.
Kimmel was suspended indefinitely from Sept. 17 through Sept. 22, 2025, following the remarks.
He later defended his remarks during an interview with Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw, saying “I didn’t think there was a big problem. 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 realized the comments were an issue “when they pulled the show off the air,” and added, “I can sometimes be reactionary. I can sometimes be aggressive. I can sometimes be unpleasant. I think that it helped me, really, having those days to think about it was helpful.”
He also said he believed his comments were mischaracterized.
“I didn’t ‘feel’ like it. It was,” he said. “It was intentionally, and I think maliciously, mischaracterized.
“I think what has happened over the last, like, three weeks, I think was very unfair to my bosses at Disney. I don’t think anyone should ever be put in a position like this. It is insane,” Kimmel said.
“And I hope that we drew a really, really bold red line as Americans about what we will and will not accept. I really hope that that’s what comes out of all of this.”