Barack Obama slams Trump's 'dangerous' cancel culture after Jimmy Kimmel axe

Former US President Barack Obama has expressed his thoughts onJimmy Kimmel Live! being axed from television indefinitely.

The choice to cancel the programme was made by broadcaster ABC following backlash overremarks he made regarding the killing of Conservative campaigner Charlie Kirk. Obama turned to X to voice his opinion as the move to remove Kimmel from screens has sparked fury amongst the public and his colleagues in the entertainment industry.

Obama has cautioned that the Trump administration had pushed cancel culture to "a new and dangerous level."

He posted on X, "After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn't like."

He added, "This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent - and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it."

ABC confirmed on Wednesday that Kimmel had been taken off air without a return date. The announcement came mere hours after FCC Chairman Brendan Carr issued warnings to the Network and its stations that action would be taken unless measures were implemented, reports The Mirror US.

Carr hit back after Kimmel delivered a monologue on Monday, in which he made derogatory comments aboutthe suspect in Kirk's murder, Tyler Robinson.

He stated, "We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it."

During an appearance on Benny Johnson's podcast, Carr criticised the comment, saying, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."

Nexstar Communications Group, which runs 23 ABC affiliates, labelled Kimmel's comments as "offensive and insensitive," and ABC promptly responded on Wednesday. While Kimmel has yet to comment on ABC's move, President Donald Trump boldly posted on Truth Social: "Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done."

Kimmel's contract is due to end in May next year, and insiders believe he is now "looking for ways to get out" of the agreement. It is thought that Kimmel, 57, is set to appear on Stephen Colbert's show in the US in the coming days as Colbert - a Democrat - has also been criticised by Mr Trump after his show was cancelled by CBS in the summer.

A source revealed to the Daily Mail: "They both are in the same predicament with being against the Trump administration, and they are now looking to do something together to fight for what they believe in. They both don't want Trump to win in any way or fashion at all, and this has lit an extreme fire under Jimmy's a** to continue to tell it like it is and be real to himself."