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Melania Trump is urging ABC to "take a stand" against Jimmy Kimmel, claiming his "hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country." Two days before the White House Correspondents Dinner was evacuated due to a shooter, Kimmel parodied hosting the event on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and jokingly addressed that First Lady Melania had the glow of an "expectant widow." The joke ignited widespread criticism among Trump's MAGA base after the shooting.
"Kimmel's hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country. His monologue about my family isn't comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America," Melania Trump posted on X. "People like Kimmel shouldn't have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel's atrocious behavior at the expense of our community."
Variety has reached out to representatives for Kimmel and ABC for comment.
While Kimmel regularly bashes Donald Trump on his late night show, he has increasingly targeted Melania in recent months. The release of the Amazon documentary "Melania" in January stoked Kimmel's fury. He bashed it as a "$75 million bribe" that "Amazon made for her" and later called it "a documentary that's dreadfully dull. The whole thing is Melania going to fittings, riding in a car, trying on clothes and interviewing people to work for her."
When Melania Trump held a surprise public address at the White House on April 9 in order to distance herself from Jeffrey Epstein and declare the two had never been friends, Kimmel called B.S. during one of his monologues and aired a photo of the Trumps and Epstein posing together.
The 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner was forced to wrap early after gunshots were heard from outside the event. Donald and Melania Trump and administration officials were quickly evacuated from the event as the shooter was tackled by law enforcement on a different floor of the venue. Trump held a press conference in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and vowed to reschedule the WHCD within 30 days.
ABC previously pulled Kimmel off the air in September 2025 because of comments he made about Charlie Kirk's shooting death. When he returned to air on Sept. 23, an emotional Kimmel said it was never his intention "to make light of the murder of a young man."
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Zack Sharf; Variety Entertainment News Service; Variety || © 2026 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
