\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJimmy Kimmel is not having the President\u2019s latest attacks.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe comedian opened his show on Monday joking that \u201csometimes you wake up in the morning and the First Lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job. We\u2019ve all been there, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLast week, Kimmel made a joke about Melania Trump having the glow like an \u201cexpectant widow\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThis was Thursday. There was no big reaction to it, until this morning, when I greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm and a call to fire me from our First Lady, Melania Trump, saying I should be fired because of a joke I made again five nights ago. It was a pretend roast,\u201d he said. \u201cIt obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they\u2019re together. It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he\u2019s almost 80 and she\u2019s younger than I am. It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination, and they know that. I\u2019ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence, but I understand that the First Lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tHe agreed that hateful and violent rhetoric is something to reject. \u201cI think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\n\tKimmel also pointed out the hypocrisy of the Trump administration given that Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News that there would be \u201csome shots fired\u201d during Trump\u2019s speech at the White House Correspondents\u2019 Dinner.<\/p>\n
\n\tHe also pointed out that it was \u201cd\u00e9j\u00e0 vu\u201d given that it\u2019s not the first time that the President has called for him to be fired.<\/p>\n
\n\tTrump took to Truth Social earlier on Monday, calling on Disney-owned ABC to \u201cimmediately fire\u201d Kimmel.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel\u2019s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe first lady railed against Kimmel earlier on Monday, calling on the network to \u201ctake a stand\u201d against him. ABC has not yet commented.<\/p>\n
\n\tKimmel\u2019s skit on Thursday had him giving his own \u201calternative\u201d monologue to the Correspondents\u2019 Dinner, with archival clips of reaction shots from the first lady, Trump and others.<\/p>\n
\n\tKimmel said, \u201cOur First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThis all comes just over six months after Disney\u2019s last run in with the President over late-night.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn September 15, 2025, Kimmel discussed the death of Charlie Kirk in his monologue, noting that the \u201cMAGA gang\u201d was \u201cdesperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\tThis led to outrage from the right and was followed by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who warned ABC over the comments and said \u201cwe can do this the easy way or the hard way\u201d on a podcast.<\/p>\n
\n\tThis led to station groups Nexstar and Sinclair pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live!, prompting ABC to \u201cindefinitely\u201d pull the show from the air.<\/p>\n
\n\tKimmel was told of the decision by then Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Dana Walden, who was subsequently promoted to President and Chief Creative Officer of The Walt Disney Company, after a discussion between Walden and then-CEO Bob Iger.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe decision was widely panned by many including Kimmel\u2019s rival late-night hosts, Democratic politicians, and unions as well as, perhaps most surprisingly, Republican figures including Ted Cruz, who called it \u201cdangerous\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tOn September 22, Disney made the decision to bring Jimmy Kimmel Live! back on air after \u201cthoughtful conversations\u201d with the comedian.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe next day, after Trump said that he couldn\u2019t believe ABC gave Kimmel his job back, Kimmel was on air and said that \u201cour government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat episode quickly became the second most-watched ever episode of JKL! and was followed by a group of Disney shareholders who queried whether the Disney board \u201cbreached their fiduciary duties of loyalty, care, and good faith by placing improper political or affiliate considerations above the best interests of the Company and its stockholders\u201d.<\/p>\n
\n\tA few months later, Kimmel signed a new deal with ABC to continue hosting the show through May 2027.<\/p>\n
\n\tDeadline understands that this deal was intended to be Kimmel\u2019s last but whether that is the case, remains to be seen, both from the political pressure that he faces, and the fact that he was vacillated wildly over the years when it comes to his contracts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n