Jimmy Kimmel's sidekick Guillermo Rodriguez was reportedly seen dodging questions as he left the studio after his talk show was suspended

68th Emmy Awards Press Preview Day - Red Carpet Rollout - Source: Getty
Jimmy Kimmel and Guillermo Rodriguez the 68th Emmy Awards Press Preview Day (Image via Getty Images)

Guillermo Rodriguez, Jimmy Kimmel's sidekick on his eponymous ABC talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, was spotted dodging questions while leaving the El Capitan Entertainment Centre (ECEC) in Hollywood hours after the show was suspended. For those uninformed, Kimmel courted controversy due to his comments regarding Charlie Kirk's assassination during a recent episode, which aired on September 15, 2025.

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On September 17, ABC announced the decision to suspend the show indefinitely. This came after Nexstar Media, one of the United States' biggest owners of local television stations (including multiple ABC affiliates), announced that the network wouldn't air Jimmy Kimmel Live! "for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight's show."

According to The Daily Mail, Kimmel and his team were reportedly working in the studio when ABC announced the suspension. Following the suspension, Guillermo Rodriguez was seen exiting the studio's parking lot in his car with the windows rolled up, not responding when someone asked him, "Guillermo, what are your thoughts about being cancelled?"

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According to Us Weekly, Guillermo Rodriguez first began working on the late-night show in 2003 as a parking lot security guard. Kimmel reportedly offered him a job on the show after announcer Dicky Barrett spotted Rodriguez sleeping in his car. In a 2021 interview with People Magazine, Rodriguez recounted the story of landing his job on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, saying:

"When I got this job, I was in the parking lot and I was sleeping in Dicky's car, the announcer. He opened the door, he goes, 'What are you doing here?' I go, 'I'm trying to sleep — I'm so sorry!' Dicky went straight and told Jimmy, 'Listen, this guy was sleeping in my car.' And Jimmy said, 'We got to put this guy in the show.'"
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The Mexican-American comedian has since become a fixture on the show alongside Kimmel as his sidekick.


Exploring Jimmy Kimmel's comments about Charlie Kirk's assassination on his show

During the September 15 episode of his show, television host Jimmy Kimmel implied that Tyler Robinson, Charlie Kirk's alleged assassin, was associated with MAGA despite official reports stating that he was indoctrinated in "leftist ideologies."

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In his opening monologue, the talk show host accused the "MAGA gang" of mischaracterizing Robinson's political affiliations to "score political points," saying:

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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.”
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Furthermore, he mocked President Donald Trump's reaction to Charlie Kirk's shooting, referencing the clip where the president responded, "I think very good," when asked how he was "holding up" after the conservative activist's murder. In the clip, Trump is also seen talking about the recent renovations in the White House ballroom.

In his monologue, Kimmel jokingly said Trump's response was akin to a four-year-old mourning a goldfish, saying:

"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."
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Jimmy Kimmel reportedly planned to address the controversy in the upcoming episode

According to Variety, Jimmy Kimmel's monologue was met with immediate outcry from Republicans, who called for the television host to apologize for his remarks. In an interview on The Benny Show, which aired on September 17, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr threatened to "take action" against ABC for Kimmel's monologue.

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Furthermore, Carr, a Trump appointee, claimed that Kimmel had shown "the sickest conduct possible," adding that an apology would be a "very reasonable, minimal step."

“It appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible. In some quarters, there’s a very concerted effort to try to lie to the American people about the nature of one of the most significant, newsworthy, public interest acts that we’ve seen in a long time,” he said.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, a source claimed that Kimmel planned to address his monologue and the subsequent backlash in the episode scheduled for September 17. However, he reportedly did not plan to apologize, with the source claiming that Kimmel believed his comments did not require an apology.

Following ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to celebrate the news. He also called for NBC to fire talk show hosts Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon, writing:

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“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”
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The news of Jimmy Kimmel's suspension came on the heels of Stephen Colbert's show being cancelled by CBS due to financial reasons in July 2025.

Edited by Juhi Marzia
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