ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel made one big joke about how "hot" his staff thinks the suspected murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is.
During his "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" monologue on Tuesday evening, the late-night host shared anonymous text exchanges between his staff members talking about how attractive and likable they found Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League graduate who was charged with murdering Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last week.
"There’s a huge wave of horny washing over us right now," Kimmel began, noting how the suspected killer’s unexpected online popularity has found its way to his own underlings.
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Along with many on social media, other prominent media figures have appeared to romanticize Thompson’s suspected assassin. Ex-Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz has shared multiple posts sympathizing with the killer and those who are happy about Thompson’s death.
During an appearance on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" earlier this week, Lorenz even said the killing brought her "joy," though she tried to clarify those comments during the broadcast.
Mentioning his staff, he said, "I have never experienced anything like this. These are screengrabs of actual exchanges between members of our staff and their friends, relatives, whatever. I’ve changed the names to protect the guilty but, um…"
He then read aloud several of these exchanges to his audience, who found them hilarious.
"Lorraine C asks, ‘Do you guys think the UnitedHealthcare CEO killer is hot?’ Friend replies, ‘Yes, I love Luigi. I think he’s gay though.’"
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"This is an exchange between two of our producers. We’ll call them Glinda and Elphaba," he continued, using names from the new movie adaptation of "Wicked" to protect his staff’s identity.
"’My TikTok is flooded.’ ‘My mom chain’s going nuts. That’s my TikTok,’" he said, reading aloud the back-and-forth.
"’Everyone is obsessed. Ppl are saying a NY jury has the power to find him innocent," one of the staffers replied, adding, "Bc we all love him.’" The second responded, "’I’m not mad at him.’"
Kimmel read aloud a couple more, with one text reading, "Please tell me you’re as obsessed as I am with this handsome CEO killer."
The recipient replied, "Yes!! So many questions," to which the sender said, "Like, ‘Can I fix you?’"
The host read aloud another: "’I need him so bad. No like so bad, so so bad.’" The other anonymous texter replied, "OK, so I would visit him in prison, and bake him cookies maybe. Perhaps more but I haven’t thought that far ahead."
Kimmel also mentioned a text from one of the husbands of his staff members, who apparently sent a photo of the suspect shirtless. The recipient responded, "I’m about to be a jailhouse bride, cause damn shorty is foooiine."
After reading yet another wishing they could be on the jury for the pending case, Kimmel remarked, "Well, at least it’s stirring up a passion for civic duty, I guess."
"What is going on? There are dozens of products for sale on Etsy with his face on ‘em. There are lookalike contests. There’s Luigi Mangione crypto. There are fancams," he continued, apparently amused at the entire prospect.
"It’s bananas!" he said, before adding one last quip, "But I have to say it does feel kinda good – we’re moving away from nonstop election coverage, and back to drooling over a cold-blooded murderer’s eyebrows and abs."
