Bill Maher has surprising response to Jimmy Kimmel being taken off air over Charlie Kirk comment

Jimmy Kimmel's incendiary Charlie Kirk monologue wasn't the greatest idea, according to fellow TV presenter Bill Maher.

In light of the right-wing activist's assassination, which occurred at Utah Valley University this month, talkshow favourite and four-time Oscars host Kimmel tied it to Donald Trump's MAGA agenda.

The decision to do so - claiming Kirk's killer could've been a MAGA Republican - resulted in Jimmy Kimmel Live! being indefinitely removed from its broadcasting slot.

Addressing all this commotion yesterday (September 19), the Real Time with Bill Maher presenter suggested his peer was in the wrong.

“Well, I guess you all heard Jimmy Kimmel, my friend, my compatriot, he’s canned by ABC for comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s assassin.”

“The day right after [he made the comments], the head of the FCC said he’s gonna revoke ABC’s license.

Charlie Kirk was killed on stage by a sniper earlier this month (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune/Getty Images)

“Let me just tell you something: I am not intimidated by the FCC. And if President Trump is watching, I have one thing to say to you — have you lost weight?”

"You know, Jimmy, look, I don't think what he said was exactly right. I don't agree, we don't agree on that," Maher told his audience.

Maher added: “Jimmy, pal, I am with you, I support you, and on the bright side, you don’t have to pretend anymore that you like Disneyland."

Warning: this video contains strong language

Maher went on to say: "Jimmy's wrong, I think, to put him in one team," adding the 69-year-old, arguing that the chief criminal suspect Tyler Robinson 'doesn't belong in either party - he belongs in a straitjacket'.

And yet, Maher declared that Kimmel still 'shouldn't lose his job' over the monologue.

Interestingly, he was also able to mark '24 years to the day' since his own controversial wordplay concerning the 9/11 terrorists 'got me cancelled' from the same network, ABC.

"And Jimmy Kimmel took my slot! I got cancelled before cancel even had a culture," Maher joked.

"ABC stands for Always Be Caving."

Maher ended his monologue saying: “Jimmy, let me just say, you did a great, funny show for two decades.

“You should be proud of that. If this firing goes for you the way it did for me, you’ll get 23 years on a better network."

The hosts have been friends for a long time. (Randy Holmes / Contributor / Getty)

As for what Kimmel said on his programme, here's part of the transcript:

"On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this."

The screen then cut to a clip of Trump being asked by reporters about how he's holding up after his 'good friend's death', to which he says: 'I think very good,' before discussing the construction of the White House's ballroom.

When the footage concluded, the camera panned back to Kimmel, where he quipped: "Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief, construction. Demolition, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay?"

Trump himself celebrated Kimmel's axe over on Truth Social.

"Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED," he proudly announced.

"Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy [Fallon] and Seth [Meyers], two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT."