The ECU agreed that Ms Bruce’s explanation was inexact, because it implied the suspension arose from comments by Mr Kimmel which were directly about Charlie Kirk and the person who killed him, whereas Mr Kimmel’s comments focused on what he described as “the MAGA gang” who, he suggested, were “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”.  Immediately after Ms Bruce’s explanation the audience-member who had asked the question said “See, the comments weren’t about Charlie Kirk. They were about the people already, almost gleefully, weaponizing his death to advance their agenda”.  Taking account of the effect of this correction and the fact that the ensuing discussion was concerned with the broad issue of freedom of expression rather than the specifics of what Mr Kimmel had said, the ECU did not think it likely that viewers would have been misled on a material matter.

Not Upheld