Famous U.S. talk show host Jimmy Kimmel chose to confront the controversy head-on despite facing potential firing over a 'widow' joke directed at Melania Trump. Under heavy pressure from the Trumps, he instead mounted a counterattack by invoking 'freedom of expression'.
On the 28th (local time), according to reports by the Daily Mail and People, Jimmy Kimmel opened his Monday night program Jimmy Kimmel Live by addressing his joke, which became controversial in connection with the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner (WHCD).
The controversy began with last week's broadcast. Kimmel made a provocative joke about Melania Trump, saying she looked "like a pregnant widow," and coincidentally two days later a 31-year-old man, Cole Thomas Allen, attempted to carry out a shooting at the dinner, which sparked an outcry.
In response, Melania criticized Kimmel on social media and strongly demanded his firing from ABC, and former President Trump also demanded his immediate ouster, calling it a "vile incitement to violence."
But Kimmel was defiant. On Monday's show he lightheartedly opened with, "Doesn't the first lady ever wake you up with a statement demanding your firing? Haven't we all had that experience?"
He drew a line, saying his joke was merely a light roast mocking the Trumps' "age difference," not an incitement to assassination. Regarding Melania's criticism of his "violent rhetoric," he said, "I completely agree that violent language and behavior should be restrained. That conversation would be better started with your husband (Trump) first," delivering a stinging remark that captured viewers' attention.
Kimmel also pointed to White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt's pre-dinner comment that "shots will be fired" as an example, criticizing the Trump camp's double standard. He stressed, "We all have freedom of expression under the First Amendment," drawing applause from the audience.
While offering a sincere apology for the trauma caused by the shooting, he refused to back down from using comedy as a means of political attack. Meanwhile, mentalist Oz Pearlman, who was scheduled to appear that day, reportedly canceled his appearance amid the controversy, creating a subtle current in the broadcasting world. Attention is focused on what decision ABC and Disney will make.
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