“This is misery,” Letterman said at an event, following the removal of Kimmel’s show from ABC

Nancy Kaszerman/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock; Michael Loccisano/Getty

David Letterman (left); Jimmy Kimmel

NEED TO KNOW

David Letterman is giving fans an update on Jimmy Kimmel

The comments from Letterman come one day after a spokesperson for Disney’s ABC confirmed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be on indefinite hiatus

The hiatus news followed Kimmel’s comments about the death of right-wing media personality Charlie Kirk

David Letterman is opening up about Jimmy Kimmel’s long-running late-night program being pulled — and giving some insight into how Kimmel has handled the news.

The Late Show with David Letterman alum, 78, shared during an appearance at The Atlantic Festival 2025 in New York City on Thursday, Sept. 18 that he has been in contact with Kimmel, 57, since news broke of the indefinite hiatus of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

“This is misery,” Letterman said, according to Variety. “I feel bad about this. We see where this is all going, correct? It’s managed media. And it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. And you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.”

“The institution of the President of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show,” he added, noting that the removal “was predicted by our president right after Stephen Colbert got walked off, so you’re telling me this isn’t premeditated at some level?”

Letterman explained that Kimmel texted him on Thursday morning. “He’s up in bed, taking nourishment. He’s going to be fine,” he said, as the audience laughed.

Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty

David Letterman (left) and Jimmy Kimmel

During the Thursday event, Letterman — who hosted The Late Show from 1993 to 2015 — claimed that he joked about six presidents on air, noting that “not once were we squeezed by anyone from any governmental agency, let alone the dreaded FCC,” per Deadline.

“This guy [at] the FCC said ‘We can do things the easy way. We can do things the hard way’. Who is hiring these goons? Mario Puzo,” he joked, per the outlet.

Letterman previously sounded off on the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show in July.

His latest comments come less than one day after Kimmel’s long-running ABC show was pulled from the network and placed on hiatus following comments the host made about the death of right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk.

A spokesperson for Disney’s ABC confirmed to PEOPLE on Wednesday, Sept. 17 that Kimmel had been removed. The move came just two days after the host said the following statement on air regarding the slain political figure: “The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

Prior to that episode, Kimmel had expressed his condolences to Kirk’s family on social media. “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote at the time. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

Nexstar Media, which is the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S, later noted in a statement Wednesday night that it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel” over Kirk’s death and planned to “replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.” The company itself announced previously that it would acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, putting it in 80% of America’s TV-owning households, per a press release. The acquisition requires final approval from the Donald Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission.

Brendan Carr, chair of the FCC, later praised Nexstar over putting pressure on ABC to remove Kimmel, writing on X that “it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”

While Trump celebrated ABC indefinitely pulling Kimmel on Wednesday night via his Truth Social platform, several major figures in entertainment and politics — including former president Barack Obama — voiced their concerns over the move.

Trump’s claimed in his post that it was “great news for America” as he took aim at fellow late-night hosts Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers. “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT,” he wrote.

Kimmel has not addressed the decision as of Thursday afternoon.