Bill Maher Issues Blunt Response to ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Suspension

Bill Maher issued a blunt message about the Jimmy Kimmel Live! suspension after host Jimmy Kimmel‘s remarks about Charlie Kirk‘s death after the conservative activist was

On the Friday, September 19 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, Maher addressed ABC’s shocking move right off the bat. “I know why you’re happy tonight; I’m still on,” he quipped after the studio audience welcomed him with applause. “Talk show hosts are going down like blockbusters in the ’90s.”

Maher continued, “Well, I guess you all heard. Jimmy Kimmel — my friend, my compatriot — he’s canned by ABC for comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s assassin.”

After sharing that he’s “not intimidated by the FCC,” the 69-year-old announced that he had “one thing to say” to President Donald Trump: “Have you lost weight? You look terrific.”

Maher also brought up the time 24 years ago when the network canceled his show Politically Incorrect following his claim that the 9/11 plane hijackers weren’t “cowardly.”

“Oh yes, I got canceled before cancel even had a culture,” he said of the 2001 incident. “ABC, they are steady. ABC stands for ‘Always Be Caving.’ So Jimmy, pal, I am with you. I support you. And on the bright side, you don’t have to pretend anymore that you like Disneyland.”

On September 14, Kimmel faced backlash after suggesting that the suspect in Kirk’s shooter was a right-wing extremist.

“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,” he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Additionally, Kimmel criticized Trump’s response to a question about how the POTUS was faring after Kirk’s death. “I think very good,” the 79-year-old president replied. “And by the way, right there, you see all the trucks? They just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House.”

“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he called a friend,” Kimmel said. “This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”

Of the remarks that got Kimmel’s show pulled, Maher bluntly stated, “Look, I don’t think what he said was exactly right. I don’t. We don’t agree on that. He shouldn’t lose his job for it.”

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Bill Maher Issues a Bold Political Message About Charlie Kirk's Death

“Was he on the left? I don’t know that either,” he added. “… It is a fool’s errand to try to say that these nuts who do these things are any team.”

“This kid doesn’t belong in either party. He belongs in a straitjacket,” Maher declared. “He’s an outpatient who should not be out. But you have the right to be wrong, or have any opinion you want. That’s what the First Amendment is all about.”

To conclude his opening monologue, Maher sent a direct message to Kimmel, telling the ousted host, “You did a great, funny show for two decades. You should be proud of that. If this firing goes for you the way it did for me, you’ll get 23 years at a better network.”

Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays, 10/9c, HBO