Jimmy Kimmel Faces Backlash for Jokes About Staff’s Attraction to Suspect Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealth CEO Murder Case
OAN Staff Blake Wolf
12:37 PM – Thursday, December 12, 2024
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel tried to ease the tension following the shocking news about the alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, revealing that his team thinks the 26-year-old suspect is “attractive.”
Advertisement
On a recent episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” the host revealed how much his staff admires Luigi Mangione, the suspected assailant in the murder of CEO Brian Thompson. Many viewers found this reaction inappropriate as Thompson’s family is still grieving.
“There’s a noticeable wave of attraction washing over us right now,” Kimmel joked, as he referenced the surge of support for Mangione, who reportedly claimed to be motivated by the “corruption and greed” within the healthcare sector, directly blaming Thompson.
“Honestly, these parasites had it coming,” Mangione noted in his recently published manifesto.
Kimmel went on to display anonymous messages from his staff who were discussing Mangione’s appeal.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. These are real messages exchanged within our team and their friends and family. I’ve anonymized their names to protect the guilty but, uh…” Kimmel began, continuing to read through the chats.
“Lorraine C asks, ‘Do you guys think the UnitedHealthcare CEO killer is attractive?’ A friend replies, ‘Yes, I totally love Luigi. Though I think he’s gay,’” he shared.
“Here’s a conversation between a couple of our producers, who we’ll call Glinda and Elphaba,” Kimmel remarked, alluding to characters from the film “Wicked” to obscure his staffers’ identities.
“‘My TikTok is blowing up.’ ‘My mom’s chain is going wild. That’s my TikTok,’” he continued, sharing the text messages.
“Everybody is obsessed. People are saying a New York jury might find him innocent because we all adore him,” one staff member wrote, with another responding, “I’m not angry at him.”
“Yes!!! So many questions,” Kimmel continued reading, “Like, ‘Can I fix you?’”
“Okay, so I would visit him in jail and maybe bake him cookies. Perhaps more, but I haven’t really planned that far ahead,” one anonymous staff member expressed. “I need him so badly. No, like for real, so so bad.”
Kimmel later displayed a picture sent by one staffer’s husband, featuring a shirtless Mangione, to which she responded, “I’m about to become a jailhouse bride because wow, shorty is fine.”
Kimmel continued with his comedic commentary on the situation.
“What’s happening? There are countless products available on Etsy featuring his face. There are look-alike contests. There’s even Luigi Mangione cryptocurrency! There are fancams,” he stated.
“It’s insane! But I must admit, it feels a bit refreshing – we’re shifting from all-consuming election coverage back to obsessing over a cold-blooded murderer’s eyebrows and abs,” he added.
Many users took to social media to express their discomfort and outrage over Kimmel’s lighthearted treatment of Thompson’s tragedy, who leaves behind a wife and two children.
“Warped is the right word. They’re normalizing assassination. Not surprising, given that Kimmel also downplayed the attempted assassinations of President Trump,” commented one user.
“Jimmy is disgusting! How would his family feel if this situation were about him?? He should be fired!” another echoed.
Stay updated! Get breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here: https://www.oann.com/alerts
Advertisements below
