Former longtime Disney CEO Bob Iger has defended the company’s controversial decision to briefly suspend late night host Jimmy Kimmel last year, saying leadership believed Kimmel’s comments about the assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk were genuinely “in bad taste.”
Kimmel was suspended and his long-running ABC late night series, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” was pre-empted for five days from Sept. 17 through Sept. 22, 2025. That move, which prompted backlash from industry insiders and everyday viewers alike, came in response to criticism from both President Trump and many of his supporters over comments Kimmel made days after Kirk’s assassination.
Kirk was shot and killed at a public speaking event on Sept. 10, 2025. Five days later, during his opening monologue, Kimmel 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.”
Despite the calls for Kimmel’s firing that subsequently came from within the Trump administration, Iger told the Financial Times in a recent interview that Disney did not suspend the late night host in order to appease the president.
“That was not the case,” Iger told the publication. “We thought it was in bad taste.” The former Disney CEO said that Kimmel was asked to apologize for what he had said, explaining, “We just wanted him to acknowledge that it was an ill-timed and probably inappropriate comment.”
The outrage to Kimmel’s joke was swift and came from multiple directions, including FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who threatened on Sept. 17, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel,” Carr said at the time. “Or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
In the wake of his suspension, Kimmel ended up on the receiving end of an immense wave of support from those within his industry. Everyone from Ben Stiller and Pedro Pascal to Adam Carolla, Mark Ruffalo, Jean Smart and Damon Lindelof all publicly expressed their support for Kimmel, with many calling at the time for consumer boycotts of Disney.
For his part, Iger was still CEO of Disney at the time of Kimmel’s suspension. After holding the position for nearly a total of 20 years, Iger officially stepped down as CEO and was replaced by his successor, current CEO Josh D’Amaro, on March 18.
