Jimmy Kimmel it’s pushing back! The late-night host, 58, addressed the growing controversy over his joke about Melania Trump in a Monday, April 27 monologue, insisting the comment was clearly humorous and unrelated to the attempted attack at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, April 25.
What Jimmy Kimmel said in his monologue
Kimmel told his audience that his “glow like a widow” joke about Melania on Thursday’s April 23 episode was “obviously a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on their faces whenever they’re together.”“It was a great joke that he’s almost 80 years old and younger than me,” he said. “It was by no means a call to kill, and they know I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence in particular.”He also addressed Melania directly. “I’m sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am. Just because nobody died doesn’t mean it wasn’t traumatic and scary. And we should come together and be the best. We really should.”“But if you want to believe that a joke I made three days before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened, you might want to look into this psychic lady, too,” he added.Kimmel also showed a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt talking about the president’s speech before the Correspondents’ Dinner, saying “there were going to be some shots fired in the room tonight.” “You know who’s going to be upset when they hear that? White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt,” Kimmel said.
What Jimmy Kimmel said in his original segment
Kimmel’s comments come from his “alternative” White House Correspondents’ Dinner monologue for the April 23 episode, as Trump, 79, chose not to have a comedian at the official event. During the segment, Kimmel joked that Melania was “shining like a widow” and celebrated her birthday by “looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’
How Melania Trump and the president Donald Trump he answered
In a social media post, Melania called on ABC to “take a stand” against Kimmel, who allegedly used “hateful and violent rhetoric” on his show. Kimmel said he “shouldn’t have the opportunity to come into our homes every evening to spread hate” and called him a “coward” who “hides behind ABC because he knows he’s going to continue to cover to protect the network.” “Enough is enough. It’s time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC’s leadership allow Kimmel’s outrageous behavior at the expense of our community,” he wrote.Later in the day, President Trump called Kimmel’s “widow” statement “shocking” on Truth Social, recounting the joke and that “a madman tried to break into the White House Correspondents’ Dinner” over the weekend, “loaded with a shotgun, a gun and a lot of knives.” Trump called for Kimmel to be “fired immediately,” describing the joke as “beyond the pale.”
The broader context and history between Jimmy Kimmel and the White House
The latest spat comes a month after Kimmel’s show was taken off the air on September 17 following comments he made about Charlie Kirk on September 15. At the time, the FCC chairman threatened to take action against the network. Kimmel returned to the air six days later. Trump said the show was canceled.Kimmel mentioned the earlier incident on Monday, saying it was “like deja vu for me today because all the news channels were talking about it.”‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ It airs weekdays at 11:35pm ET on ABC.
