Mentalist Oz Pearlman backs out of Jimmy Kimmel Live as host prepares first episode amid

Mentalist Oz Pearlman has pulled out of his scheduled appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the first episode following intense backlash to the host’s jokes at Melania Trump‘s expense.

Kimmel cracked in an episode last week that the First Lady looked ‘like an expectant widow’ in comments that have aged poorly in the wake of the attempted shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner both she and Donald Trump attended.

Both Donald and Melania have called for ABC to fire the comedian, though Kimmel appears set to go on with the show tonight.

Pearlman apparently backed out of his appearance alongside comedian Anthony Anderson on Monday night’s show, CNN reported.

Pod Save America co-host Jon Lovett will replace Pearlman as the host’s second guest.

The Daily Mail has reached out to spokespersons for both Jimmy Kimmel Live and Pearlman for comment.

The remark about the President’s wife was part of a routine on Thursday’s ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ where the host pretended to deliver a comedy routine at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

That event two nights later was cut short when a man armed with guns and knives tried to enter the Washington ballroom where the Trumps and much of the nation’s political leadership had gathered.

Mentalist Oz Pearlman (pictured right) has pulled out of his scheduled appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the first episode following intense backlash to the host’s jokes at Melania Trump’s expense

Kimmel was seen driving his Audi to the Jimmy Kimmel Live! set in Hollywood with wife Molly McNearney earlier Monday

‘People like Kimmel shouldn´t have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate,’ Melania Trump said in a social media post later echoed by her husband.

Trump went further on Monday in a post to Truth Social.

‘I appreciate that so many people are incensed by Kimmel’s despicable call to violence, and normally would not be responsive to anything that he said but, this is something far beyond the pale. Jimmy Kimmel should be immediately fired by Disney and ABC,’ he said.

There was no immediate comment from ABC.

Kimmel has long targeted the president in his comedy, and he doubled down after a run-in with the administration last fall.

He was suspended by ABC and some of the network’s affiliates said they would take him off the air following a comment made about assassinated conservative leader Charlie Kirk, moves encouraged by Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr.

ABC and the stations later brought Kimmel back.

Upon his return, Kimmel said that by saying that ‘many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,’ he was not trying to make light of Kirk’s killing and didn’t want to leave that impression.

He did not apologize, however, and he criticized station owners who took him off the air before later relenting.

On Sunday, Pearlman revealed what he had been showing First Lady Melania Trump on his notepad before gunfire erupted at the event.

Pearlman, 41, divulged the trick that he was performing, which had guessed 28-year-old White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt‘s unborn child’s name, just moments before shots rang out on Saturday evening.

‘The night was going very, very well. I was warming up the crowd, the [Vice President] was loving my show, and I was speaking to the press secretary,’ Pearlman told USA Today.

‘The challenge was to figure out the name of [Leavitt’s] unborn daughter.’

The trick saw Pearlman ask Leavitt to think of a name before he showed the notepad, where he had written down the name Leavitt picked for her daughter, Viviane. Leavitt, who is expected to give birth in only a matter of days, later confirmed to Pearlman that he had guessed correctly, the outlet reported.

‘I never would have shared this with the world, the point is not to “gotcha” her. But I spoke to her and she said it’s okay to share,’ he told the outlet.

‘”This is a moment in history,” she told me. When it happened, she said, “I don’t know how the hell you guessed my daughter’s name.”‘

But no sooner had he revealed his impressive trick, gunfire rang out at the event, the crowd cowered under tables, Secret Service leapt into action and Pearlman found himself lying on the floor.

‘The timing was insane,’ Pearlman continued. ‘Right as I did the reveal, that’s exactly the moment things went down in the room.’

‘You see the peak reaction to my trick, the “Oh!” and then things instantly change to shock and distress,’ he recalled.

As he lay on the ground, he turned and saw the president within reach. He recalled to CNN that his thoughts as he lay on the floor with Trump was, ‘Oh no, are we about to die?’

‘Seeing his face a foot away – I’ll never forget that,’ he said. ‘It’s a photo in my mind forever. I wish I had meta glasses on and I’d have that photo.’

Pearlman said on CNN Monday night that he would be thrilled to host a rescheduled dinner. He did not address his backing out of the Kimmel show.

This is a developing story.