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David Letterman has shared a text exchange he had with Jimmy Kimmel in the immediate wake of the late night host’s indefinite suspension.
Letterman messaged Kimmel after learning he was being pulled from schedules over a controversial remark about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk
According to Letterman, Kimmel was “sitting up in bed taking nourishment” when they spoke. “He’s going to be fine,” the celebrity interviewer added.
He called the suspension ridiculous, adding: “You can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.”
Letterman, speaking at The Atlantic Festival in New York City, highlighted that his own late night show was on the air while six presidents were in the White House, from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama, all of whom he mocked “mercilessly”.
Kimmel’s fellow late-night hosts condemned the decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from air in their respective shows on Thursday (18 September).
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David Letterman text Jimmy Kimmel in the wake of the host’s suspension (Getty Images)
Stephen Colbert, whose own series is coming to an end in May 2026, called it “blatant censorship” while Seth Meyers vowed to continue doing the show “the way we’ve always done it”.
Many more celebrities, including Ben Stiller, Wanda Sykes and Kathy Griffin, have spoken out against the decision, and Marvel star Tatiana Malslany has led calls to cancel Disney subscription services; ABC, the network that pulled Kimmel’s show, is owned by the entertainment conglomerate.
The announcement from ABC came soon after Nexstar Media Group, the largest owner of television stations across the country, said it would no longer air Kimmel’s show.
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Jimmy Kimmel is being supported by many celebrities (Getty Images)
Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcasting group, made up of top network affiliates, with more than 200 owned or partner stations in 116 US markets reaching 220 million people.
Hours before the decision was made public, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, called Kimmel’s words “truly sick”.
Carr went on to say that his agency could hold ABC, Disney, and Jimmy Kimmel accountable for the comments. He said the comic appeared to be making an intentional effort to mislead the public into believing that Kirk’s assassin was a Trump supporter.