Trump calls on ABC, Disney to fire Jimmy Kimmel after monologue uproar

Donald Trump on Monday called on ABC and Walt Disney Co. to immediately fire Jimmy Kimmel, escalating a feud that now reaches beyond late-night comedy and into the question of how much pressure a sitting president can place on corporate media.

Trump’s demand followed a monologue Kimmel delivered on April 23, when the comedian made a joke about Melania Trump that included the line that she had “the glow of an expectant widow.” Trump described the remark as a “despicable call to violence,” linking it to a shooting near a gathering of journalists and politicians over the weekend.

Melania Trump also entered the dispute, urging ABC to “take a stand” against Kimmel. Her intervention added to the pressure on the network and its parent company at a moment when ABC and Disney are once again facing scrutiny over how they handle political satire on air.

The clash is especially sensitive because it comes amid renewed debate over whether entertainment companies can keep distance from political power when their talent targets the president and his family. Kimmel has been a recurring target for Trump, and the public call for his removal sharpens the stakes for ABC, which must weigh audience expectations, advertiser risk and the optics of appearing to cave to a White House-backed attack.

That concern is not new for Disney. In September 2025, shareholders requested documents related to a separate Kimmel suspension and asked whether the company had capitulated to pressure from the Trump administration. That earlier fight left investors questioning whether Disney had defended editorial independence or yielded to political force.

Now the same fault line has reopened. The latest controversy places ABC and Disney at the center of a broader free-speech and political-pressure debate, with Trump using the force of the presidency to demand consequences for a broadcast comedian’s on-air comments. For Disney, the issue goes well beyond one monologue. It raises the harder question of whether the company can protect its news and entertainment brands from direct political intimidation without inviting even more confrontation from the White House.