US3 min(s) read
Published 09:30 29 Apr 2026 GMT
The White House has ramped up its attack on Jimmy Kimmel after the late-night host refused to apologize for a joke about First Lady Melania Trump, with officials now demanding ABC take him off air.
The latest clash erupted after White House communications director Steven Cheung branded the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host a "s*** human being" over remarks made during his alternative White House Correspondents' Dinner segment. The backlash has intensified after Kimmel defended the joke as an “obvious” roast and rejected claims it was a call to violence.
The controversy centers on a joke from Kimmel’s show on Thursday, April 22, where he said Melania had "a glow like an expectant widow.” The comment drew even greater scrutiny after a shooter later charged a security checkpoint at the White House Correspondents Dinner with the apparent intention of killing the president, fueling outrage from the White House and Trump allies.
Cheung escalated the feud on X, writing: "Jimmy Kimmel is a s--- human being for: #1. Making a disgusting joke about assassinating the President. #2. Doubling down on that joke instead of doing the decent thing by apologizing. ABC needs to fire him immediately and he should be shunned for the rest of his life.”
The remarks came after Melania Trump had already urged ABC to “take a stand” and fire the comedian, arguing the joke incited violence. Donald Trump later echoed those demands in a Truth Social post, writing: "I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale," while insisting Kimmel should be "immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
Kimmel’s controversial line was part of a wider mock Correspondents' Dinner monologue after he was not invited to this year’s event. In previous years, comedians traditionally roasted the president before being roasted in return, but this year the event dropped the comedy headliner in favor of mentalist Oz Perlman.
Despite mounting criticism, Kimmel has refused to back down.
Defending the joke, he said: "It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he's almost 80 and she's younger than I am. It was not by any stretch a call to assassination and they know that I've been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence in particular.”
Kimmel also maintained the line was clearly a joke, pointing to the wider roast, which included references to the Epstein files and Trump’s recent AI Jesus art posts.
While he did not apologize for the remark itself, he did offer sympathy to those affected by the security scare, saying sorry that “everyone in that room on Saturday went through that.”
What began as a roast joke has now spiraled into a full political and media firestorm, with pressure mounting on ABC as the White House continues demanding action.
Trump and Melania have made clear they view the comment as far more serious than political comedy, while Kimmel has framed the uproar as outrage over a joke taken out of context.
With the White House doubling down and Kimmel refusing to retract his words, the standoff appears far from over.
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