Lord of the Rings Star Slams Jimmy Kimmel Suspension Over Charlie Kirk Joke

Lord of the Rings star Dominic Monaghan has hit out following ABC’s decision to take Jimmy Kimmel Live off the air.

During his show on Monday, US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel made comments about President Trump’s reaction to the Charlie Kirk killing that occurred last week.

“The MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during the show.

He also commented on Trump’s reaction to the killing, adding: “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”

This triggered a response from the Trump administration and conservative speakers, threatening ABC’s broadcasting licence if action wasn’t taken against the late-night host.

Hours later, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live would be taken off-air indefinitely. Donald Trump called this “great news for America” on social media network Truth Social.

The move comes a few months after the cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, with many critics of the move claiming that it signals a worrying shift against free speech and a free press.

One such critic of the move was The Lord of the Rings and Lost star Dominic Monaghan, who appeared several times on Kimmel’s show since its 2003 debut.

“I’ve known @jimmykimmelive @jimmykimmel for over 20 years,” the 48-year-old actor wrote in an Instagram post. “We all know his public persona as a funny talented committed talk show host who cares about people but from a personal point of view he has always been so kind and caring to his staff and all of his guests. He is a man who gives back to his people his community his country. I am appalled with his show being cancelled. First @stephenathome now Jimmy. Control the media and what it puts out you control the people. Shocking.”

Monaghan portrayed Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck in the three films that make up The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and later went on to play Charlie Pace on the ABC drama Lost. In more recent years, he’s had roles in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and made his theatrical debut in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Other celebrities have reacted to the news, including Hacks star Jean Smart who posted: “I am horrified at the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live. What Jimmy said was FREE speech, not hate speech.”

The Paper’s Alex Edelman wrote that “This is the actual cancel culture everyone claims to hate so much,” while actor Ben Stiller wrote “This isn’t right.”