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

Bill Maher, Jimmy Kimmel
Stefanie Keenan/VF25/WireImage for Vanity Fair; Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation
Bill Maher, Jimmy Kimmel

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

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 shooting 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.”

“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




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  1. G

    GreenBee

    I think all those that said Trump is a leader are totally stupid and insane!! Open your eyes!! We have no leader as far as the majority of the people think! Trump is nothing but a liar, coward, bully and totally believes his own lies!!! Get with it ! He's an embarrassment!!

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    1. C

      CyanPin

      Oh he's a leader. You can follow Biden. Common sense follows Trump. Hahahaha

      1

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        BluePlanet

        And will..... Common sense hasn't followed DT since he's been here.... leaders don't dodge pictures or notes leaders share emotions and feelings with who put them in office. Leaders should have a SENSE of HUMOR. Clearly not this azz kissing crew you jock riding. Now follow that!

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      2. G

        GreenCupcake

        only a delusional person would imply that the words of a known con artist, grifter, thief, 1,000’s of times liar, multiply sued, 34-time convicted fraud are “common sense”. When did you get out of prison?

        5

    2. C

      CyanTree

      TDS is rampant… get help! He lives in your head rent free 24/7. That’s a minimum of 4 years of your life wasted. I seriously doubt that we will see a Democrat president for many years to come. Don’t waste your life…

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      1. G

        GreenCupcake

        The Daily Show (TDS) is rampant!

        3

      2. G

        GreenCupcake

        I heard from Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg who said trump only changed a paint color or a design one time each, otherwise Weisselberg oversaw and did all the planning oversight for the Trump Organization. Donnie does nothing but tell others to organize and plan things for him. Donnie steals the credit for others’ work. He is lazy as hell. He also does not know how to plan or organize anything, as evidenced by what his former Executive Chef at mar a lago, in charge of 250+ ppl, told me.

        You are clueless how completely incompetent this grifter is. This info is from real conversations I had with Allen Weisselberg and Aaron Fuller. I live not far from MAL so I run into ppl who have done work for trump. You’ve never met Trump, you don’t know what he’s like, and you only believe what news propaganda like Fox News says about him, then you cherry pick what you hear so that you ignore the stuff you don’t wanna believe. This is as biased and uninformed as it gets. You’re the one that is deranged with your blind subservience to this conman and rip off artist. Trump loves fools and suckers.

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      3. G

        GoldRing

        I think it will be difficult for the Democrats to elect someone unless the country totally falls apart. Much of the electoral system could be so 'rigged' by then that no Democrat can get elected.

        2

    3. O

      OliveSnow

      Some of that's true, but there is a leader. While Trump may not be a leader and more the face of a movement co-opted and used by others for personal gain, it's not correct to state we don't have someone leading. Whether we like it or not, Stephen Miller is someone. 🙄

      5

  2. T

    Tom Boya

    Why do you guys keep saying it was comments over Charlie Kirk's death? Point me to the comments about Kirk.

    His comments were about opportunistic politicians and a particularly un-bothered President.

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    1. G

      GreenPlane

      Not only opportunistic politicians and an unbothered president, but also the hat-wearing citizens who support and or worship them.

      16

    2. C

      CyanTree

      Obviously you weren’t watching… he said that Kirk’s assassin was MAGA, which was a lie. The parent company asked him to issue a correction and an apology. He refused. You have a right to say whatever you want in this great country of ours… but sometimes there are consequences to your words… just ask your spouse!

      3

      1. C

        CyanCandy

        Nope. I've seen the clip ad nauseum at this point, and at no point does he ever definitively try to like Tyler Robinson with MAGA. I challenge you to provide footage to the contrary.

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          PurpleDucky

          You are 100% correct. That "yes, it's me" is blatantly incorrect.

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        PurpleDucky

        Nope. You're either flat out lying or just not paying attention. He never said the murderer was MAGA. He said that the MAGA folks were doing everything they could to make it clear they were not affiliated with him. How could you possibly confuse those messages? Unless you only believe what you want to believe?

        10

      3. G

        GreenCupcake

        Kimmel is not married to right-wingers. Put down the bottle.

        3

  3. G

    GoldMustache

    Yes. Exactly this. How in the hell is EVERY outlet getting this wrong? The full context of his monologue was clearly pointing out the MAGA crowds' determination to use this to play the blame game when any time a shooting comes from "their" crowd, they're like "thoughts and prayers, let's not politicize this."

    21

  4. O

    OliveBeer

    Of course, not too long ago if someone said there are just two genders they'd be canceled, fired, harassed, attacked, doxed, and in general vilified. And I'm staying anonymous because just pointing this out still could get me canceled, fired, harassed, attacked, doxed, and in general vilified. How times have changed.

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    1. G

      GreenCupcake

      Paranoids look for examples that fit their fears. Don’t be so afraid.

      3

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      BlueBeer

      You have cancelled yourself.

      2

  5. P

    PurpleBottleOpener

    The ass hat doesn't put any thought at all into his comments. Even the mention of Trump's response was completely inappropriate. Trump is a TRUE leader and will NOT show weakness on National television. He's grieving privately and will never let any potential enemy gain an edge by thinking they can weaken him emotionally. That's a real Commander in Chief.

    19

    1. A

      Antonio Montealegre

      "Trump is a TRUE leader and will NOT show weakness on National television" Except when it concerns Jeffrey Epstein!

      36

      1. R

        RedSushi

        Or Vladimir Putin.

        16

      2. C

        CyanTree

        You are aware that Joe Biden had those files for the entirety of his presidency, right? If there had been so much as a whisper of Trump in those files Joe and Kamala would have GLEEFULLY spilled those files… I voted for Trump. I also would like to see those files. But you have to ask yourself how much of it is really believable.

    2. G

      GoldCar

      How's that Kool-Aid taste? Careful how you answer - the 1st Amendment is dead for the next 3-1/2 years.

      20

    3. G

      GreenGoggles

      Epstein said what?

      3

    4. G

      GreenBee

      Russian troll say what!

      6

    5. C

      CyanBasketball

      Whatever you're smoking it's doing it's job- reality is definitely not on your plate

      5

    6. O

      OliveClover

      No, he really is emotionally a damaged four year old. Intellectually, maybe a six year old

      5

    7. O

      OliveSnow

      This post is satire correct?

    8. G

      GoldMustache

      Wow the level of cognitive dissonance it takes to actually believe Trump gives a damn about anyone but himself. A real Commander in Chief can handle criticism. A real Commander in Chief says "The buck stops here." A coward blames everyone but himself for his failures and tries to silence his critics.

      10

    9. C

      CyanMagnet

      'Trump is a TRUE leader and will NOT show weakness on National television.'😅🤣😂

      Then, why people say Trump=TACO+Liar+Felon?

      1

    10. O

      OliveDice

      You tell 'em comrade........now which way to the Reichstag?

      1

    11. B

      BlueHelmet

      What and who are you actually coaching? Or are you just grooming, 66?

      1

    12. G

      GreenPlane

      trumpty-dumpster-fire will "not show weakness on national television"? Every time he opens his mouth he shows a lack of speaking and vocabulary skills. Then there's his lack of social skills (pushing people out of the way) and social conversation ("you're so beautiful, so beautiful!" can you say creepy??) Foreign leaders like Putin and Xi know how to manipulate him, so yeah, that's a definite weakness.

      4

  6. D

    Dave Probert II

    Canceled everything related to Disney! Disney+ ... Cancelled, HULU... Cancelled, ESPN... Cancelled, NFL Red Zone... Cancelled... Willing to lose $200, NFL Network... Cancelled... ANYTHING & EVERYTHING connected to, or possibly connected to Disney... CANCELLED!!  NO MATTER WHAT DISNEY DOES, I WILL NEVER, EVER GO BACK OR WATCH ANYTHING THAT DISNEY HAS TO DO WITH, INCLUDING ABC!!?

    18

  7. O

    OliveDice

    MEGA cultists (Make Epstein Great Again) are actually trying to convince people that CJK is MLK. That's like trying to convince the uneducated that a catfish is actually a lion.

    17

  8. B

    BlueDice

    This is exactly what happens since Americans started to value editorial opinions above factual news.

    17

    1. G

      GreenCupcake

      Blame the propagandists who broadcast the BS, like Fox “News”, which tried to deny their election lies by calling themselves entertainers not news presenters. That defense didn’t work and they went up agreeing to pay $787 million for lying.

      7

  9. O

    OrangeFish

    Lmao. They dont like it when the shoes on the other foot do they

    15

  10. O

    OrangeBus

    I agree wholeheartedly with Bill.Jimmy will land on his feet. So will Stephen Colbert.

    10

  11. O

    OliveClover

    It would appear that the underlying reason Kimmel's show got cancelled was it was losing money and viewers. But it's a good diversionary story to say it was because of something he said. Late night tv has been on the decline since we had classy folks like Carson.

    6

    1. O

      OliveSnow

      m

      3

    2. O

      OliveSnow

      I guess Brandon Carr's remarks about cancelling ABC's broadcast license doesn't play into your theory?

      14

    3. P

      PurpleChilli

      I completely agree. Kimmil's show was terrible. He only appealed to a niche audience. Carson appealed to almost everyone. Carson was actually funny and his show was loose. Kimmel got way too uptight for a comedian. If Kimmel's show had blockbuster ratings and was on a network that wasn't owned by Disney, then it wouldn't have been cancelled. Any network owned by Disney has to be a joke.

      2

  12. G

    GreenLobster

    Uh, Bill is on HBO, a pay CABLE channel. He does NOT have to worry about the FCC anyway, or as much as people on BROADCAST television, do.

    5

    1. G

      GreenCupcake

      Licensees are not channels orvbroadcast networks.

      1

    2. G

      GoldRing

      I think he is more concerned about somebody in Paramount or who ever owns them now will demand that Bill be fired. He got fired for controversial statements when he worked for ABC. But Bill has toned down his trump rhetoric.

  13. C

    CyanBottle

    Dems are hypocrites.

    2

  14. O

    OrangeFries

    I forgive all the people that post in hate.

    1

  15. P

    PurplePopsicle

    Kimmel has long been politically incorrect. Maher was once, got canceled and learned not to bite the hand that feeds him since. That's the only message I take from him.

    1

  16. C

    CyanRaindrop

    yup lots of right wingers call other right wingers fascist and put "furry" code initials on their bullets., and date transgenders. Kimmel knew all this and did it anyway. further, and something I didn't know, you can't just say anything you wt

    1

    1. C

      CyanRaindrop

      anything you want on network tv, you can on cable, which is where Jimmy should go next.