Conan O’Brien Says ‘It’s Wrong’ That ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Was ‘Indefinitely’ Pulled

Conan O’Brien is speaking out following Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show being pulled off the air.

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, an ABC spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Sept. 17, that the network was “indefinitely” pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! as a result of recent remarks the host, 57, made during his Monday, Sept. 15, monologue about Charlie Kirk, the right-wing commentator who was shot and killed on Wednesday, Sept. 10, at the age of 31.

Taking to social media on Friday, Sept. 19, O’Brien, 62, shared a statement in support of Kimmel.

“The suspension of @jimmykimmel and the promise to silence other Late Night hosts for criticizing the administration should disturb everyone on the Right, Left, and Center,” he wrote. “It’s wrong and anyone with a conscience knows it’s wrong.”

Though O’Brien doesn’t currently have a late-night show, he hosted Late Night from 1993 to 2009 and The Tonight Show from 2009 to 2010, both on NBC. He then hosted his eponymous Conan from 2010 to 2021 on the cable network TBS.

Since leaving late-night TV behind, O’Brien — a former Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons writer — has hosted his podcast, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and hosted the Emmy-winning travel show Conan O’Brien Must Go on HBO Max since 2024.

ABC’s decision to shelve Jimmy Kimmel Live! coincided with broadcast companies Nexstar and Sinclair both condemning Kimmel over his recent comments about Kirk and pulling his show from ABC affiliates across the country.

Kimmel spoke of Kirk and his accused killer, Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old who has been charged with aggravated murder in connection with Kirk’s death, during his opening monologue on the Sept. 15 episode of his show.

“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. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

Kimmel then showed clips of President Donald Trump being asked about Kirk’s death, with one reporter offering him their condolences and asking how he’s holding up.

“I think very good, and by the way, right there where you see all the trucks, they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House,” Trump replied, noting that the new ballroom at the White House will “be a beauty.”

As the camera cut back to Kimmel, he said, “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction.”

In the wake of Kirk’s murder, however, Kimmel offered condolences to Kirk’s family on social media.

“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote at the time. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has praised both Nexstar, the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S., and Sinclair, which makes up the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group, for their decision to pull Kimmel’s show in posts he shared to X.

Nexstar recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, a massive deal that would further consolidate the local television landscape and put Nexstar in 80% of America’s TV-owning households, according to a press release (current law permits no more than 39%). The acquisition will require final approval from the Trump-controlled FCC.

Sinclair also laid out a list of demands for Kimmel to meet before it would air his show again, including him issuing “a direct apology to the Kirk family” as well as making a “meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA,” Kirk’s nonprofit that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college and university campuses.

Trump, who has been at war with late-night hosts in recent months, celebrated Kimmel being taken off the air and said he was “fired for lack of talent.”

While Kimmel has yet to address being taken off the air, he has received support from Hollywood pals and industry unions alike.

His fellow late-night hosts have also spoken out in his defense, including Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, whose late-night show was canceled earlier this summer at CBS.