David Letterman is joining in the many voices who have expressed outrage over ABC‘s decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show off the air.
What did David Letterman say about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension?
During a recent appearance at The Atlantic Festival 2025, Letterman was asked his views on the decision. The legendary late-night talk show host called the decision “misery,” and said we were beginning to creep toward a world of “managed media.”
“This is misery,” Letterman said (via Variety). “I feel bad about this,” he continued. “We see where this is all going, correct? It’s managed media. And it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. And 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 also warned those who might be happy about the decision, noting that eventually “everyone is going to be touched.”
“In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,” said Letterman.
“The institution of the president of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show.” Letterman also implied that the decision was premeditated, noting that the decision “was predicted by our president right after Stephen Colbert got walked off, so you’re telling me this isn’t premeditated at some level?”
On Wednesday night, ABC halted production on Jimmy Kimmel Live after the FCC openly threatened to take action against the network and its license following Kimmel’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s death. During his last show as of now, Kimmel commented on the potential political leanings of Kirk’s killer as well as how the MAGA movement was reacting to it.
“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,” said Kimmel during his monologue.
So far, Kimmel’s show is considered on indefinite pause. Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns ABC affiliate stations alongside Nexstar, has said that in lieu of Kimmel’s upcoming Friday show, ABC will air a special memorial service to Kirk that other affiliates are free to also run. The company also demanded that Kimmel apologize for the comments and make a “meaningful personal donation” to Kirk’s family, as well as Turning Point USA.
