Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel complained on Wednesday that the controversial remarks he made regarding the murder of Charlie Kirk had been “maliciously mischaracterized” by “right-wing media networks,” and that he did not see any “problem” with them until his show was taken off the air.
During a live interview with Kimmel for Bloomberg Screentime, Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw asked, “How long after the initial episode where you made the comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Monday episode, did you realize there was a problem?”
“I didn’t think there was a big problem. You know, I just saw it as distortion on the part of some of the right-wing media networks and I was- I aimed to correct it,” said Kimmel. “Sometimes you think this is not a problem and then it turns into a big problem, and then sometimes it goes the other way.”
Shaw questioned, “And so at what point did you realize this was a problem?”
“I think when they pulled the show off the air,” replied Kimmel as the audience burst into laughter.
The comment in question was made on Sept. 15, days after Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University.
“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,” Kimmel said at the time.
After Shaw asked, “You felt like your initial comments had been mischaracterized?” Kimmel insisted, “I didn’t feel like it, it was. It was intentionally and I think maliciously mischaracterized.”
During the same interview, Kimmel also said he would “love” to have President Donald Trump as a guest on his show, despite the president’s repeated rants against him.
Kimmel’s show Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to the air last month after it was temporarily suspended by ABC in response to his controversial remarks about the assassination of Kirk that same month.
Watch above via Bloomberg.
The post Jimmy Kimmel Says He Didn’t See Any ‘Problem’ With Words About Charlie Kirk Murder, Blames ‘Right-Wing Media Networks’ for Backlash first appeared on Mediaite.
