NEW YORK — Jimmy Fallon abruptly canceled his appearance at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival in New York City, shortly after “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was suspended over its host’s comments about the conservative response to the shooting death of Charlie Kirk earlier this month .

Fallon was supposed to speak Wednesday night alongside marketing executive Bozoma St. John about NBC’s “On Brand,” an unscripted series that pits marketing pros against each other in creative challenges. Some 30 minutes before he was set to take the stage, though, organizers of the event in lower Manhattan revealed Fallon pulled out of the discussion at the last minute, Deadline reported.

The panel went ahead as scheduled with St. John and Fast Company editor Jeff Beer.

Fallon’s absence came just hours after ABC yanked Kimmel’s eponymous late-night show from it line-up, citing his monologue about the aftermath of Kirk’s killing. The conservative commentator had been discussing mass shootings during a Q&A at Utah Valley State University when he was fatally shot in the neck. The suspect, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, has been charged with aggravated murder among other charges.

Following the deadly violence, President Donald Trump and his conservative allies raced to place blame the shooting on the left, while Democrats suggested the shooter’s ideologies aligned more with the right.

“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.

The late-night host also offered his condolences to Kirk’s family in the immediate aftermath of the deadly shooting.

Trump offered his “congratulations” to ABC in a Truth Social post in the wake of Kimmel’s indefinite hiatus.

“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible,” he wrote. “ That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”

A rerun of “Celebrity Family Feud” aired in place of the late night show on Wednesday, and a Charlie Kirk special will air in its place on affiliates owned by Sinclair Broadcasting.

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