Donald Trump has called for Jimmy Kimmel Live host, Jimmy Kimmel, to be fired after the popular comedian made a joke about the President’s wife, Melania
Jimmy Kimmel is once again facing the wrath of Staunch Trump supporters for an ill-timed joke. The comedian, who has hosted chat show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, for years – and who counts a whole host of Hollywood stars as friends – is in hot water after making a joke about the President’s wife, Melania becoming a ‘widow’.
Trump was so incensed after the jibe, which Kimmel made during a monologue on the show ahead of the White House Correspondents Dinner -which ended up being evacuated after a gunman opened fire outside the event – that he’s demanded TV network, ABC, sack him. But what exactly did Kimmel say?
Two days before the now infamous gala dinner, the stand-up star hosted hisown ‘alternative version’ in which he delivered a monologue for a fake audience that included President Trump and First Lady Melania.
At one point, the late-night host joked about the president’s age, as he teased ‘Melania’: “Our first lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.”
Kimmel also mocked the former model’s documentary, Melania, which bombed at the box office and was not well-received by critics.
Melania publicly criticised Kimmel on Monday and urged ABC to take action against him. However, her husband has gone one step further, calling for the comic to be removed from his role altogether, claiming his comments were “a despicable call to violence”.
Kimmel has since doubled-down on his comments, telling his audience on Monday night that his joke was not a call to violence. He said: “Obviously, it was a joke about their age difference and the look of joy we see on her face every time they’re together.
“It was a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s [56] younger than I am [58]. It was not – by any stretch of the definition – a call to assassination. And they know that. I’ve been very vocal for many years, speaking out against gun violence, in particular.”
Meanwhile, A-lister, George Clooney – an outspoken critic of Trump – has also defended Kimmel as he compared the backlash to another remark by White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, that was taken out of context.
Before heading into the White House Correspondents Dinner, Leavitt told Fox News on the red carpet, “there will be some shots fired tonight in the room,” which appeared to refer to the jokes written for the event.
Speaking at the 51st Chaplin Awards Gala in Los Angeles on Monday, where George was being honoured, Variety reports he said: “Jimmy’s a comedian, and I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired. She was making a joke.”
However, criticising the White House in light of the ongoing war with Iran, he continued: “Fair enough. You look at that side and go, ’Well, jokes are jokes.’ But the rhetoric is a little dangerous. And we’ve seen it a lot lately.”
“When one side is calling anyone they disagree with traitors to the country, which is a charge that’s punishable by death, just because they don’t agree with someone, I think the rhetoric is a little too heated.”
Stating he disagrees with “everything” Trump is doing while decrying the violence seen at the White House last week, George concluded: “I disagree with everything that this administration stands for, but there’s no place for the kind of violence we saw two nights ago in Washington, D.C.”
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