Jimmy Kimmel Says âSorryâ to Melania Trump for One Thing While Defending His Joke About Her
The first lady and president posted statements on social media about a joke Jimmy Kimmel made on air, calling for the comedian to be fired
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Jimmy Kimmel; Melania Trump.Credit :Â
Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube; Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty
Jimmy Kimmel is offering an apology to first lady Melania Trump, but not for his comedy.
During the Monday, April 27 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the late-night host broke his silence over the âobviousâ joke he made about the first lady in a previous episode that sparked backlash online from those in the White House.
After both Melania and her husband, President Donald Trump, posted statements on social media about a line Kimmel used in his Thursday, April 23 episode, Kimmel clarified that it was intended as a âvery light roast joke.â
While he didnât apologize for the joke itself, Kimmel did say he was âsorryâ for something else. âI am sorry that you and the president and everyone in that room on Saturday went through that. I really am,â he said, referring to the gunman who opened fire at the White House Correspondentsâ Dinner on Saturday, April 25. âJust âcause no one got killed doesnât mean it wasnât traumatic and scary.â
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He added, âWe should come together and be best, we really should. But if you want us to believe a joke I made three days before this dinner had any effect on anything that happened, well then maybe someone should look into this psychic lady too.â
Kimmel then queued up a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying there would be âsome shots fired in the room tonightâ before the event, referring to a speech from Trump, 79.
Kimmel held his âalternativeâ White House Correspondentsâ Dinner monologue during his Thursday episode in an effort to roast the president since âtypically, somebody funny shows upâ to the annual event, he said. During the segment, Kimmel joked that the first lady had âa glow like an expectant widow.â
In response to the segment, Melania called for ABC to âtake a standâ against Kimmel over what she alleged was âhateful and violent rhetoricâ on his show. She argued in an X post on Monday, April 27 that Kimmel âshouldnât have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.â
Trump also took issue with Kimmelâs remarks, calling them âshockingâ in a post shared to Truth Social on Monday. In his rebuke, Trump called for Kimmel to be âimmediately fired by Disney and ABC,â which has aired Jimmy Kimmel Live! since its 2003 premiere.
âI appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmelâs despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale,â Trump wrote.
Responding to the president on his show, Kimmel insisted during his monologue that his remarks could not have had an impact on the events at the White House Correspondentsâ Dinner.
âIt was a very light roast joke about the fact that heâs almost 80 and sheâs younger than I am,â Kimmel said of Trump and Melania, 56. âIt was not by any stretch a call to assassination and they know that Iâve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence in particular.â
Previously, Kimmelâs show was âindefinitelyâ pulled from the air on Sept. 17 after comments he made about Charlie Kirkâs death in his opening monologue on Sept. 15. FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened to pursue action against the network over its criticism of Trump, and Kimmel later made his return to the airwaves six days later.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
