A rumor that circulated online in September 2025 claimed Coca-Cola dropped talk show host Jimmy Kimmel of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" — apparently canceling a sponsorship deal — after he made what the company believed to be "disgusting" remarks about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kirk died at the age of 31 on Sept. 10 after being shot in the neck during an outdoor event for his "The American Comeback Tour" on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. Prosecutors have since charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson with multiple crimes, including aggravated murder, in the killing of the Turning Point USA co-founder.
On Sept. 17 — seven days following the shooting — ABC suspended Kimmel's show. ABC's suspension followed
The Associated Press (AP) reported that, as this story unfolded, Disney, the owner of
Days later, on Sept. 22, ABC announced the network would reinstate Kimmel's show, and that the program would return on the following evening. Kimmel's original comments mentioning Kirk — which did not directly target Kirk or his family — appear later in this article.
As for the Coca-Cola rumor, on Sept. 18, a user managing the America's Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) Facebook page posted a brief video displaying a still image of Kimmel with an onscreen caption misspelling Kimmel's name. The post, receiving around 730,000 views, read, "Coca-Cola drops Jimmy Kimmell like a bad habit after 'disgusting' comments about Charlie Kirk. 'Mr. Kimmell won't have an easy time finding work anytime soon.'" The text caption also read, "Both of these stories have the left unhinged."
(America's Last Line of Defense/Facebook)
Some users reposting the rumor and commenting under the post seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, searches of Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo found no evidence of Coca-Cola dropping Kimmel in any manner, including canceling any sponsorship deal. Upon searching Bing for "did Coca-Cola drop Kimmel," the search engine's artificial-intelligence (AI) platform wrongly displayed, "Yes," then answered a different question — a misleading result continuing the trend of AI tools' unreliability, as we previously highlighted in another article involving Kirk's fatal shooting.
Rather, the rumor originated with America's Last Line of Defense — the name of the aforementioned Facebook page and also the name of its network, comprised of Facebook pages and websites publishing content labeled as parody and satire. The video featuring the fabricated story about Coca-Cola and Kimmel displayed a small label reading, "Nothing on this page is real." The same disclaimer also appears in the page's bio.
Kimmel's remarks mentioning Kirk's name
In Kimmel's broadcasts following Kirk's shooting, he did not make any jokes directly targeting Kirk or his family.
Hours after the Sept. 10 shooting, Kimmel posted (archived) a message in an image on Instagram reading, "Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence." Kimmel did not mention Kirk's name during his monologue on the same day.
During Kimmel's Sept. 11 monologue, he called Kirk's death a "senseless murder," saying the killing "has amplified our anger, our differences," and adding, "I've seen a lot of extraordinarily vile responses to this from both sides of the political spectrum. Some people are cheering this, which is something I won't ever understand." He also made numerous jokes and points about U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump.
Following the weekend, on Sept. 15, Kimmel joked about Trump answering a question about Kirk's death during a Sept. 11 press gaggle while standing outside the White House, in which the president partially talked about the construction of a new ballroom:
KIMMEL: 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. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level you can see how hard the president is taking this.
(cuts to video clip)
REPORTER: My condolences on the loss of your friend, Charlie Kirk. May I ask sir, personally, how are you holding up over the last day and a half, sir?
TRUMP: I think very good. And by the way, right there, you see all the trucks? They just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they've been trying to get, as you know, for about 150 years, and it's going to be a beauty.
(cuts away from video clip)
KIMMEL: Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief: construction. Demolition, construction ... this is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, ok?
The late-night comedy show only featured a brief clip from Trump's full press gaggle, which also showed the president making numerous gracious comments about Kirk, his wife, Erika, and their organization Turning Point USA. Regarding Kimmel's "MAGA gang" remark, the AP reported Brendan Carr, Trump's pick for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), said Kimmel appeared to be making an intentional effort to mislead the public that Robinson was a right-wing Trump supporter. The AP also said that authorities said Robinson grew up in a conservative household in southern Utah but was enmeshed in "leftist ideology."
As Kimmel continued his Sept. 15 monologue, he joked about Trump and the ballroom, including asking a question relating to Trump's former friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. He said, "There's something wrong with him. There really is. I mean, who thinks like that? And why are we building a $200 million ballroom at the White ... Is it possible that he's doing it intentionally so we can be mad about that instead of the Epstein list?"
Later in the same monologue, Kimmel poked fun at FBI Director Kash Patel, saying, "And then we have this head of the FBI, this character, Kash Patel, who so far has handled this investigation into the murder of Charlie Kirk like a kid who didn't read the book, 'BSing' his way through an oral report."
Then, Kimmel's Sept. 16 monologue featured numerous jokes about Trump, about Patel repeatedly sniffling during a Congressional hearing and other matters, including making light of the new ballroom again. He also mentioned Kirk's name, claiming Trump's supporters aimed to capitalize on his murder:
KIMMEL: Meanwhile, many in 'MAGA-land' are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk. Yesterday, JD Vance, who himself famously called Donald Trump "America's Hitler," hosted the Charlie Kirk podcast from the White House, where he pointed his little mascara-stained finger directly at the left.
(cuts to video clip)
VANCE: While our side of the aisle certainly has its crazies, it is a statistical fact that most of the lunatics in American politics today are proud members of the far left.
(cuts away from video clip)
KIMMEL: Right? And by statistical fact, he means complete bulls***. In fact, so much so that the Department of Justice just removed a study that showed white supremacy and violence from far-right groups is the greatest source of domestic terror and extremist violence in the United States.
Snopes previously confirmed Vice President JD Vance truly called Trump "America's Hitler" in 2016, and also reported the Department of Justice truly removed a study from its website in September 2025 showing domestic terrorists most often espouse right-wing beliefs.
More about America's Last Line of Defense
The America's Last Line of Defense Facebook page's "details" tab on its "about" page reads, "We are here to provide you with information you can use to continue being as informed as a conservative feels comfortable with. Please don't use our page in conjunction with Google or the news, it will only serve to confuse you further."
Dunning-Kruger-Times.com, a website under the umbrella of the America's Last Line of Defense network, also displays a disclaimer on its "About Us" page, labeling the content as "parody, satire and tomfoolery," along with a joke about Snopes reporting on made-up claims.
We previously addressed similar satirical claims, including one from November 2024 claiming Kimmel announced he would end his show and move to Canada on Inauguration Day in January 2025.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources calling their output humorous or satirical.