Late night host Jimmy Kimmel on Monday night doubled down on his lowbrow joke calling First Lady Melania Trump an “expectant widow,” despite a third assassination attempt on President Donald Trump’s life at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Saturday.
During his monologue, Kimmel claimed his joke, which he retold, referred to the age disparity between POTUS and his wife, not a potential attack against Trump.
Jimmy Kimmel addresses calls for him to be fired by First Lady Melania and President Donald Trump, claims his “expectant widow joke” was about their age difference, not assassination.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 28, 2026
Regardless of his intent, he was joking about the President dying and Melania being happy about… pic.twitter.com/2FQ0bOjwGN
a glow like an expectant widow.’ Which obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together,” Kimmel said of last Thursday’s monologue where he hosted a fake White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
The late night host’s explanation came after Melania on Monday urged ABC/Disney to sack him as a host, saying his hatred toward the president – especially in light of Saturday’s assassination attempt – was fueling division in the US, followed up by President Trump expressing similar sentiments.
Now it appears Kimmel’s job may be in jeopardy.
On Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it was reviewing ABC’s license, ostensibly for violating anti-discrimination rules and not because of Kimmel’s recent comments.
“Those ABC licenses were not slated for license review until 2028 at the earliest,” according to Semafor.
Reports claim ABC executives are ready to pull the plug on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, with network insiders telling The Sun, “The move to pull Kimmel completely seems imminent.”
“Stations which carry ABC around the country were told to pull Kimmel’s slated promos from their lineups this week,” the anonymous source said.
Another insider anticipated the network would “cave to the administration’s demands” in order to avoid losing advertisers, saying, “Pulling Kimmel is the easy way out for Disney.”
In a statement to Semafor, the network claimed, “ABC and its stations have a long record of operating in full compliance with FCC rules and serving their local communities with trusted news, emergency information, and public‑interest programming.”
“We are confident that record demonstrates our continued qualifications as licensees under the Communications Act and the First Amendment and are prepared to show that through the appropriate legal channels.”
It remains to be seen whether the Kimmel show remains on the air, or is dealt a fatal blow as a result of its host’s incendiary remarks.
