Melania Trump's Adviser Urges Advertisers to Boycott Jimmy Kimmel Over 'Expectant Widow' Joke

Marc Beckman, senior adviser to First Lady Melania Trump, called on advertisers for Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show to boycott it after the host's 'expectant widow' joke about the first lady.

"Why would ABC stand behind that? That's the question. Furthermore, not just for the ABC brand, but why do the advertisers for Kimmel's show stick with him," Beckman said. "It's kind of strange."

The first lady criticized Kimmel for "hateful and violent rhetoric" following his parody at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, where he called her "an expectant widow" days before an assassination attempt. Kimmel defended the skit as a joke about age difference, not a call for assassination.

Beckman said Kimmel should be fired and ABC should terminate his employment, even as the first lady chose her words carefully.

The first lady slammed Kimmel in an X post on Monday, calling him a "coward" and urging ABC to take a stand. "His monologue about my family isn’t comedy — his words are corrosive and deepens the political sickness within America. People like Kimmel shouldn’t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate," she wrote.

Beckman, CEO of advertising agency DMA United, said the issue goes beyond freedom of speech to branding. "Why would ABC and the parent company, Disney, want to be affiliated with an individual that's entering all of our homes, America's homes, night after night [in] our living rooms, our bedrooms, and spewing such divisive, vile political rhetoric," he said. "It leads to nowhere good."

Beckman pointed to Wall Street Journal reporting on Center for Strategic and International Studies data showing left-wing terrorist attacks and plots outnumbered right-wing ones in 2025 for the first time in more than 30 years.

"The amount of political violence, physical political violence from the left to the right is at a higher level," he said. "The trend is that from left to right, political violence is greater than that from right to left."

He described the first lady as one of the hardest-working people who stays attentive to media but focuses on achievements for the country. "She pays attention to what people are saying in the media, but she doesn't care so much I think what she's focused on is how could she continue to create great achievements for the country," Beckman said.

Kimmel faced backlash last year over comments on Charlie Kirk’s killing that critics said mischaracterized the suspect and politicized the case. The ABC host received a brief suspension before returning with an apology.

The first lady has worked to expand children’s access to technology and education. She invited 45 countries to the inaugural "Fostering the Future Together" global summit in March.

"So what is she focused on? She's focused on American children, American families, taking care of the nation as First Lady. She's not going to really care about all the gossip, lies, and innuendo," Beckman added.

Fox News Digital reached out to ABC and Kimmel's representatives but received no immediate response.