Jimmy Kimmel has clarified the light in which he cracked the “expectant widow” joke on US First Lady Melania Trump two days before an assassination attempt on her and husband, US President Donald Trump. The late night show host’s explanation comes hours after the Trumps called out his distasteful remark and urged ABC network to fire him immediately.
On this past Thursday’s episode of his late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host performed a parody of the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, which took place in Washington DC later that week on Saturday. Kimmel pretended to deliver a comic routine for the WHCA dinner. His speech had false cutaways to the Trumps and others, taken from video clips.
“Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” said Kimmel during his roast, while pretending to address Melania in the audience. That wasn’t it as he further launched his offensive against the US First Lady. “She’s planning to celebrate at home the same way she always does — looking out a window and whispering, ‘What have I done?,” said Kimmel.
The final punch, however, included not only her husband, with whom Kimmel has had a long-standing beef, but also late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “Before we go any further, Melania, this is Donald. Donald, this is Melania. That was my impression of Jeffrey Epstein,” added Kimmel.
When the joke turned morbid
Two days after Kimmel’s roast, the actual WHCA Dinner was cut short after a man, armed with knives and guns, attempted to break into the venue, the Washington ballroom, where the Trumps and most of the US political leadership were seated. While all of them remained unscathed, the man identified as California resident Cole Tomas Allen was immediately arrested and charged on Monday with the attempted assassination of the president.
Trumps call out Kimmel
After the incident, Donald Trump took to his Truth Social platform and wrote, “I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC.”
This isn’t the first time Trump has demanded Kimmel be fired by ABC, and its parent company Disney. Last year, Kimmel was suspended by ABC following a comment made about assassinated conservative leader Charlie Kirk, moves encouraged by Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr. ABC, however, brought Kimmel back and reinstated his show a week later.
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Upon his return, Kimmel didn’t apologize, but clarified that he was not trying to make light of Kirk’s killing. “Many in MAGA land (Trump’s supporters) are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he claimed, and added that he didn’t want to give the impression that he was one of them. He also criticized station owners who took him off the air briefly.
Kimmel, who has been airing his show on ABC since 2003, was signed for a one-year extension by the channel. As per that contract, his show is due to air at least till May 2027. He isn’t the only Trump critic the US President has been lobbying to get axed from late-night television. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, on air on CBS since 2015, is all set to conclude next month.
After Donald Trump revealed the attempted assassination has had a traumatic impact on Melania’s mental health, the First Lady also took to X to slam Kimmel for his insensitive and strangely, potentially prophetic joke. “People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate. A coward, Kimmel hides behind ABC because he knows the network will keep running cover to protect him. Enough is enough. It is time for ABC to take a stand,” she shared.
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Jimmy Kimmel’s clarification
After Trumps lashed out at Kimmel and demanded his exit from ABC, Kimmel issued a clarification during his show’s monologue on Monday. He labelled his “expectant widow” joke on Melania as a “light roast” about the couple’s age difference. “He’s 80 and she’s even younger than me,” said Kimmel, 58. The US First Lady is 56, 13 years younger than Donald Trump, who is 79 now, but turns 80 next month.
Kimmel empathized that the Trumps and other political leaders would have to endure Saturday’s “traumatic and scary” attempted assassination, but he clarified that his joke on Melania was “not, by any stretch of the definition, a call to assassination”. He, however, didn’t end the monologue without his signature jab at Donald Trump’s divisive politics.
“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,” said Kimmel.
