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Bill Maher defended Jimmy Kimmel’s right to speak after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! in September 2025, even as Maher disagreed with Kimmel’s description of the alleged shooter’s politics. Maher connected the dispute to his own ABC controversy in 2001. His “23 years” line was a joke about how long Kimmel might last on a different network—not the time since Maher’s cancellation.
What Bill Maher said about Jimmy Kimmel
In the September 19, 2025 opening monologue of Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher called Kimmel his friend and compatriot and argued that Kimmel had the right to express his view, including the right to be wrong. Maher also said he disagreed with Kimmel’s characterization of the alleged shooter’s politics.
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Maher ended with a pointed prediction: “If this firing goes for you the way it did for me, you’ll get 23 years on a better network.” The line referred to Kimmel’s future, not a measured forecast or a claim that the two hosts had experienced the same career path. HBO’s verified Real Time channel published the monologue under the title “Jimmy Kimmel and Cancel Culture” on September 19, describing it as Maher addressing ABC’s indefinite suspension of Kimmel.
Why ABC suspended Kimmel’s show
On September 17, 2025, ABC indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after Kimmel made remarks about the reaction to Charlie Kirk’s killing. The Associated Press reported that some ABC-affiliated stations said they would not air the program, and that FCC Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel’s comments. Maher’s defense came two days later, amid that dispute over the remarks and the show’s suspension.
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How Maher’s ABC controversy connects
Maher’s comparison reaches back to Politically Incorrect, the ABC late-night show he hosted. On September 17, 2001, six days after the September 11 attacks, Maher made remarks criticizing the use of “cowards” to describe the attackers and comparing their actions with cruise-missile attacks. Those comments became controversial; they were the episode Maher invoked when he described his own ABC experience.
In May 2002, ABC announced that Politically Incorrect would be canceled as part of a move toward “straight entertainment programming” in late night, according to LateNighter. The chronology continued with Jimmy Kimmel Live! debuting in January 2003, after Politically Incorrect ended its ABC run. Real Time with Bill Maher launched on HBO the following month.
What “23 years” means—and what it doesn’t
The headline’s 23 years refers to Maher’s closing line about Kimmel potentially spending 23 years on a better network. It does not mean that 23 years had passed since Maher’s ABC comments: when Maher spoke in September 2025, he described those remarks as having happened 24 years earlier. The two numbers refer to different things.
| Reference | What it refers to |
|---|---|
| September 17, 2001 | Maher’s controversial Politically Incorrect remarks, as dated by LateNighter. |
| May 2002 | ABC’s reported announcement that Politically Incorrect would be canceled. |
| January 2003 | Jimmy Kimmel Live! debuts on ABC. |
| “24 years” | Maher’s description in September 2025 of the time since his own ABC comments. |
| “23 years” | Maher’s prediction in the monologue about Kimmel’s possible run on another network. |
What happened after the suspension
In an October 2, 2026 report, CinemaBlend said Disney executive Dana Walden had discussed the business challenge facing Jimmy Kimmel Live!, praised Kimmel’s work and ratings relative to the smaller broadcast late-night audience, and said his then-current contract was up in May 2027. That renewal timing is attributed entertainment reporting, not a primary contract document.
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