Howard Stern Canceled His Disney+ Subscription in Wake of Jimmy Kimmel News: 'I Do Not Support What They're Doing'

Howard Stern is the latest host to defend Jimmy Kimmel on-air.

On Monday, Sept. 22, the radio host spoke out about Jimmy Kimmel Live! being pulled off the air indefinitely over Kimmel's comments on Charlie Kirk, as he revealed he's been in touch with Kimmel, 57.

"I don't know what their plan is, but it looks like they might be firing him. Then I read sometimes that they're not going to fire him, I don't know," Stern, 71, said on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show.

"I have spoken to Jimmy. I didn't ask him these questions," Stern continued. "I just asked him how he was doing personally."

An ABC spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE on Sept. 17 that Kimmel's late-night show would be pulled off the air for the foreseeable future, two days after he addressed Kirk's death in his Sept. 15 monologue.

“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,” Kimmel said in his monologue. “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."

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On Stern's radio show, he addressed how President Donald Trump's administration has played a role in Kimmel's hiatus.

"I just know when the government begins to interfere — when the government says, 'I'm not pleased with you, so we're going to orchestrate a way to silence you' — it's the wrong direction for our country."

"And I should know. I've been involved in something like this," Stern continued. "And now ABC is put in the same position. And it's unfortunate that ABC even has to be in this position, they shouldn't have to be in this position. I feel for them too in this."

"But someone's got to step up and be f------- saying, 'Hey, enough. We're not going to bow.'"

Stern also shared that he is "canceling my Disney+" subscription over the Kimmel news. "I'm trying to say, with the pocketbook, that I do not support what they're doing with Jimmy."

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Nexstar Media — the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S., with more than 200 television stations in 116 markets — told PEOPLE in a statement that it "strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk."

Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar's broadcasting division, added in his own statement, “Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue."

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Nexstar recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, a massive deal that would further consolidate the local television landscape and put Nexstar in 80% of America's TV-owning households, according to a press release. The acquisition will require final approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr was quick to praise Nexstar for putting pressure on ABC to remove Kimmel. "It is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values," Carr wrote on X.