The mentalist was in the middle of a trick at the WHCD when gunshots rang out.

Oz Pearlman won’t be on Jimmy Kimmel Live tonight after White House Correspondents’ Dinner shooting

The mentalist was in the middle of a trick at the WHCD when gunshots rang out.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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April 27, 2026 5:50 p.m. ET

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Oz Pearlman at the White House Correspondents Dinner; Jimmy Kimmel. Credit:

Kevin Mazur/Getty; Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty

- Oz Pearlman is no longer scheduled to appear on Monday's episode of *Jimmy Kimmel Live* in the wake of the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting.

- The mentalist was in the middle of performing a trick at the WHCD when gunshots rang out.

- An guest lineup for Monday's *Kimmel* broadcast quietly swapped Pearlman for podcaster Jon Lovett.

Mentalist Oz Pearlman will no longer appear on Monday's episode of *Jimmy Kimmel Live* in the wake of the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting.

Host Jimmy Kimmel said on his talk show last week that Pearlman, the featured entertainer at this year's WHCD, would be visiting the late-night program two days after the dinner.

However, an guest lineup released by ABC quietly swapped Pearlman for *Pod Save America* cohost Jon Lovett. The episode's other guest is *Grown-ish* star Anthony Anderson.

Oz Pearlman at the 2026 White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Taylor Hill/WireImage

Representatives for *Jimmy Kimmel Live* didn't immediately respond to **'s request for comment on the change.

Pearlman was in the middle of performing at the White House Correspondents' Dinner when shots rang out at the Washington Hilton ballroom in Washington, D.C., on Saturday evening. A suspect in the shooting, 31-year-old Cole Allen, has been taken into custody and charged with attempting to assassinate President Donald Trump.

Pearlman opened up about the incident, which he called "the scariest moment of my life," in an Instagram post Sunday.

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"Was in the middle of performing for the President and First Lady when I looked up to see a commotion, thought it was a bomb about to go off or shots fired," he wrote. "We hit the deck fast and Secret Service acted decisively and professionally to protect us all."

Pearlman continued, "We laid on the ground, I was a couple feet away from President Trump, eyes locked with one another. It was likely the scariest moment of my life and will never forget it. So happy everyone is ok."

He wrote in an Instagram Story published that same day, "Just got home and it's never felt as good to hug and kiss my children."

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In the aftermath of the shooting, President Trump and the first lady both called for ABC to take action against Kimmel over a joke he made last week, before the dinner, in a fake WHCD roast. He quipped that Mrs. Trump had a "glow like an expectant widow."

Jimmy Kimmel on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'.

Randy Holmes/ABC via Getty

"Enough is enough," she subsequently wrote in a lengthy statement posted to social media. "It is time for ABC to take a stand. How many times will ABC's leadership enable Kimmel’s atrocious behavior at the expense of our community."

In his own Truth Social post, the president claimed that he "normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale."

He added, "Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

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Source: “EW Late”