Jimmy Kimmel has refused to apologise for a joke he made days before the White House correspondents' dinner shooting, in which he described Melania Trump as glowing 'like an expectant widow'. Both Donald Trump and the first lady have accused the comedian of inciting violence and called for ABC to fire him.
During his Monday night monologue, Kimmel defended the joke, saying it was made three days before the alleged assassination attempt and was 'a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am'. He added: 'It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination.'
Melania Trump had earlier accused Kimmel of 'hateful and violent rhetoric' and 'atrocious behaviour', writing on X: 'It is time for ABC to take a stand.' Donald Trump also posted on Truth Social, calling for Kimmel to be 'immediately fired by Disney and ABC'.
Kimmel responded by pointing out that the first lady's criticism came after a stressful weekend, and suggested that 'a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it'. He also highlighted that the Trumps' calls for his ouster follow a history of violent rhetoric from the president, including urging supporters to 'fight like hell' after the 2020 election.
The incident echoes a previous controversy last September, when ABC suspended Kimmel after FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened the network over jokes about the president. ABC later reinstated him amid free speech concerns.
