Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel refused to apologize for a joke about Melania Trump that got backlash from the first lady and President Donald Trump.
Jimmy Kimmel responds to Melania Trump’s backlash over joke
Kimmel addressed the controversy in his Monday monologue, standing amid the chants of his name by the audience. “You know how sometimes you wake up in the morning and the first lady puts out a statement demanding you be fired from your job? We’ve all been there, right?” he told ABC viewers.
This is in reference to a joke Kimmel made during a Thursday episode, where he made a joke about the first lady, saying she had “a glow like an expectant widow.” The line did not get such a huge reaction until Monday, when both Trumps publicly demanded ABC cancel Kimmel’s show, as it was in consequence of a shooting outside the actual WHCD ballroom on Saturday evening, which Kimmel did not attend.
Kimmel explained the joke’s intended meaning, calling it “a very light roast joke about the fact that he’s almost 80 and she’s younger than I am.” He rejected any other interpretation. “It was not — by any stretch of the definition — a call to assassination. And they know that,” Kimmel said, further mentioning his years of vocal opposition to gun violence.
While seemingly not apologizing for the joke, Kimmel did express regret for the traumatic experience at the WHCD. He drew a firm line, however, at suggestions his pre-taped comedy had any connection to the violence.
Kimmel argued that if such a link existed, “maybe someone should look into this psychic lady too,” before playing a video of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “there will be some shots fired tonight,” hours before the shooting.
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
