Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has pushed back against criticism over a joke in which he described Melania Trump as an “expectant widow,” made just days before a shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
Melania condemned the sketch, calling it “hateful and violent,” while the White House urged ABC to dismiss the comedian.
The controversy intensified after a gunman opened fire at the high-profile dinner in Washington, DC, attended by Donald Trump and his wife. Authorities said the attacker may have been targeting members of the Trump administration.
Responding during his first monologue after the incident on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel defended the remark as harmless. He said it was a “light roast” referencing the 23-year age gap between the president and first lady.
“Our First Lady, Melania, is here. Look at Melania, so beautiful. Mrs Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow,” Kimmel said during the Thursday night sketch.
He later insisted, “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.”
“I agree that hateful and violent rhetoric is something we should reject, I think a great place to start to dial that back is having a conversation with your husband about it,” he added.
In a post on X, Melania argued that “people like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.”
“His monologue about my family isn’t comedy – his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America… How many times will ABC’s leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community,” she wrote.
Donald Trump also condemned the remarks on Truth Social, saying he was glad many Americans were “incensed by Kimmel’s” comments, which he described as a “call to violence.”
“[T]his is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,” the president said.
Actor George Clooney appeared to come to Kimmel’s defense during a New York gala, emphasizing that comedians often rely on satire.
He referenced remarks by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ahead of the dinner, when she said there would be “shots fired”, a common joking reference to the event’s tradition of political jabs.
“I would argue that Karoline Leavitt didn’t mean shots should be fired,” Clooney said. “She was making a joke. Fair enough. You look at that side and go, ‘Well, jokes are jokes.’”
Meanwhile, the National Religious Broadcasters has called on the Federal Communications Commission to investigate ABC, saying Kimmel’s comments raised “serious concerns about the normalization and potential incitement of political violence.”
Kimmel has faced similar backlash before. Last September, he was briefly taken off air after comments about the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk sparked outrage, though he later returned and acknowledged some viewers found his remarks “ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.”
The latest uproar gained traction after the earlier joke resurfaced online following the shooting, prompting critics to accuse the comedian of encouraging violence and renewing calls for his removal from television.
Trump and Melania were safely evacuated from Saturday’s event at the Washington Hilton after the gunman opened fire near a security checkpoint. The president later described the evening as “a rather traumatic experience” for his wife.
The suspect, identified as 31-year-old Cole Tomas Allen, was subdued by security agents near a staircase leading to a ballroom where hundreds of guests had gathered.
He appeared in court on Monday, charged with attempting to assassinate the president as well as multiple weapon-related offences. He did not enter a plea.
