Refusing to back down, Jimmy Kimmel addresses the sudden outrage over a controversial segment he did last week.
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During the segment, Kimmel played a comedian at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, since there wasn’t one this year. At one point, the late-night show host referred to First Lady Melania Trump as an “expectant widow” due to her 24-year age gap from President Donald Trump.
“This was Thursday, and there was no big reaction to it until this morning, when I was greeted the day facing yet another Twitter vomit storm,” Kimmel stated during his Monday night monologue. I said, our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at her. So beautiful. This is from the glow. Like an expectant widow, which obviously was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they were together.”
He then noted that it was a “very light roast joke” about President Trump being almost 80 while she just turned 56.
“It was not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination — and they know that,” Kimmel clarified. “I’ve been very vocal for many years speaking out against gun violence in particular, but I understand that the first lady had a stressful experience over the weekend, and probably every weekend is pretty stressful in that house.”
The First Lady issued a statement on Monday, accusing Kimmel of dividing the US with his “hateful and violent rhetoric.”
“His words are corrosive and deepen the political sickness within America,” the statement reads. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”
She encouraged ABC to “take a stand” and remove Kimmel.
The Comedian Advises First Lady Melania On How to Stop Hateful and Violent Rhetoric
The comedian went on to say that he agreed that hateful and violent rhetoric is something everyone should reject.
“I do it, and I think a great place to start to dial back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it,” he advised the First Lady. “Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants to say, as are you, as am I, as are all of us. Because under the First Amendment, we have as Americans a right to free speech.
Kimmel then acknowledged the security incident during the actual White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend. “But with that said, I am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am. Just because no one got killed, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic and scary. We should come together and be the best.”
Along with Melania, the president also spoke out about Kimmel’s segment. “I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence,” he said. “And normally would not be responsive to anything that he said, but this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
Kimmel was previously suspended by Disney after he remarked on the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Upon his return, the comedian apologized for the statement.
In late 2025, ABC extended Kimmel’s contract until May 2027.