Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel is in the middle of a major controversy after a joke he made about First Lady Melania Trump took on a darker meaning following a real-life shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Kimmel joked on his April 23 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! that Melania Trump had “a glow like an expectant widow.” The comment was part of a fake roast of the annual Washington dinner. But just two days later, on April 25, a gunman tried to break into the event where President Donald Trump and Melania were seated.
Now, both the President and the First Lady are demanding that ABC fire Kimmel immediately. Melania called his words “hateful and violent,” while President Trump said the joke was a “despicable call to violence.”
Trigger Warning: This article discusses real-world violence and assassination attempts.
What Kimmel Said About Melania Trump
During his show last Thursday, Kimmel performed a parody of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. He pretended to be the host while video clips of the Trumps played on screen.
Looking at an image of Melania Trump, Kimmel said: “Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
He did not stop there. Kimmel also made fun of Melania’s documentary that failed at the box office, saying: “I want to congratulate you, Madam First Lady, on your huge accomplishment – the world’s first motionless picture.”
The comedian also made jokes about the 79-year-old president’s age and health. He referenced the 23-year age gap between Donald Trump and Melania Trump, who is 56.
Kimmel added another jab about how Melania would spend her birthday on April 26: “She’s planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does, looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?’”
How the Shooting Made the Joke Worse
The controversy exploded after the actual White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. A 31-year-old teacher named Cole Tomas Allen tried to get into the Washington Hilton ballroom where the Trumps were seated.
The gunman broke through a security checkpoint. Secret Service agents rushed President Trump off the stage. Melania Trump dropped to the floor under the head table as panic spread through the room.
Allen has been arrested and charged with attempting to assassinate the president.
The timing could not have been worse for Kimmel. His “expectant widow” joke, made two days earlier, suddenly looked like a prediction of violence against the president.
Melania Trump’s Response
The First Lady did not hold back in her reaction. On Monday morning, she posted a lengthy statement on X calling out Kimmel directly.
Melania Trump wrote that Kimmel’s “hateful and violent rhetoric is intended to divide our country.” She said his monologue about her family “isn’t comedy” and called his words “corrosive.”
“People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,” she wrote. “A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him.”
She ended her post with a direct demand to the network: “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?”
President Trump Joins the Call for Firing
President Trump took to his Truth Social platform to add his voice to the criticism. He said he appreciated that so many people were “incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence.”
“Normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,” the president wrote. “Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also spoke out during her Monday briefing. She questioned how anyone could say “a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her beloved husband.”
Leavitt added: “Having experienced what I did with the first lady on Saturday night, I can tell you that she was anything but that.”
How Jimmy Kimmel Defended Himself
Kimmel responded to the backlash during his Monday night monologue. He expressed sympathy for what the Trumps and others went through during the shooting. But he strongly rejected the idea that his joke encouraged violence.
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am,” Kimmel said.
The 58-year-old host clarified that his comment was “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination.”
Kimmel then turned the criticism back toward the president. He told Melania Trump directly: “I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject. I do, and I think a great place to start to dial that back would be to have a conversation with your husband about it.”
He also defended his right to make jokes. “Donald Trump is allowed to say whatever he wants, as are you, as am I, and as are all of us because, under the First Amendment, we as Americans have a right to free speech,” Kimmel said.
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This Is Not the First Kimmel-Trump Fight
Kimmel and Trump have a long history of fighting. The late-night host has regularly mocked the president on his show for years.
This is also not the first time Trump has asked for Kimmel to be fired. Last year, Kimmel was briefly taken off the air after making comments about the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr pressured ABC to act at that time. A group of ABC affiliates dropped the show for several days before bringing it back.
ABC renewed Kimmel’s contract for another year, keeping him on air at least until May 2027.
What Happens Now
As of now, ABC and its parent company Disney have not publicly responded to the Trumps’ demands. Kimmel continues to host his show.
The suspect in the shooting, Cole Tomas Allen, remains in custody facing federal charges including attempted assassination.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner was cut short because of the security breach. President Trump later called for Americans to set aside political differences and reject violence.
But the fight between the late-night host and the first family shows no signs of cooling down.
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