Gov. Pritzker calls pre-empting of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" an attack on First Amendment, "5-alarm fire"
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker raised alarm Thursday after ABC pre-empted "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" indefinitely following Kimmel's comments regarding the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
"An attack on the First Amendment of this magnitude is a five-alarm fire and we should all be treating it as such. What's clear here is that Nexstar and Sinclair are capitulating to the president so he approves their mergers. Everything should be on the table," Pritzker's office said in a news release. "The Governor is calling for people to write letters, write e-mails, post online, speak up, and protest. Not for the punishment of local journalists for corporate machinations."
In a statement issued Wednesday, ABC said Kimmel's show would be "preempted indefinitely."
There was no word on whether the show might return. Kimmel's show has been a staple of the network since it began airing in 2003.
ABC's announcement came after media giant Nexstar announced in a news release that it would pre-empt Kimmel's show indefinitely on all its stations over Kimmel's remarks. Nexstar owns and operates more than 200 stations nationwide, including more than two dozen ABC affiliates.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, another major station owner, also said it was pulling the show.
Kimmel made the remarks in his monologue on Monday, suggesting allies of President Trump were trying to use Kirk's assassination for political gain.
"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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.