‘I’d Bake Him Cookies’ [WATCH]

ABC’s late-night host Jimmy Kimmel sparked backlash this week after revealing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that his staff and producers are captivated by Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

During Monday’s episode, Kimmel shared a series of text exchanges among his staff, highlighting their fixation on Mangione’s appearance.

“So many women and so many men are going nuts over how good-looking this killer is, and there’s a huge wave of horny washing over us right now,” Kimmel remarked.

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He went on to display screenshots of alleged text conversations between his staff members and their acquaintances, adding, “I’ve changed the names to protect the guilty.”

In one exchange, a staffer shared a message asking, “Do you guys think the UnitedHealthcare CEO killer is hot?” The response read, “Yes. I love Luigi. I think he’s gay, though.” Another text between two show producers revealed one person saying, “My TikTok is flooded. Everyone is obsessed. People are saying a New York jury has the power to find him innocent, because we all love him.” The second producer replied, “I’m not mad at him.”

Additional messages included a mother texting her daughter, “Am I the only person wondering that if the gunman had tweezed and reshaped his eyebrows he would have never been caught?” The daughter responded, “Haha good point, his eyebrows are very defined.”

One of the most striking messages displayed a staffer writing, “I need him so bad. No, like, so bad. So, so bad.” The response from their friend read, “Okay, so I would visit him in prison, and bake him cookies maybe. Perhaps more, but I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

Kimmel also highlighted the bizarre public obsession with Mangione, noting the proliferation of merchandise on Etsy featuring the suspect’s face, fan-made tribute videos known as “fan cams,” and even a cryptocurrency named after him.

“There are look-alike contests. There’s Luigi Mangione crypto,” Kimmel said. “People are making fan cams.”

While describing the phenomenon, Kimmel joked, “It does feel kind of good. We’re moving away from non-stop election coverage and back to drooling over a cold-blooded murderer’s eyebrows and abs. I think that might be progress, maybe not. I don’t know.”

Kimmel describes how his producers are in love with the UnitedHealth murderer: “I would visit him in prison! And bake him cookies, maybe. Perhaps more …“

“I’m about to be a jailhouse bride” pic.twitter.com/lCW2jgDHp0

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 11, 2024

Luigi Mangione, the focus of this unusual attention, was charged on Monday with murder, carrying a gun without a license, forgery, providing false identification to authorities, and possessing “instruments of crime.”

The charges stem from the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was killed last week.

Despite the gravity of the charges, Mangione has become an unlikely social media fixation, raising questions about the cultural fascination with criminals.

Critics have expressed outrage at the trivialization of a serious crime, particularly as public attention appears to focus on Mangione’s looks rather than the impact of his alleged actions.

Kimmel’s segment has drawn sharp criticism online, with many calling out the inappropriate nature of the commentary and text exchanges.

While Kimmel framed the obsession as a distraction from the 2024 election results, others have questioned whether the late-night show crossed a line by glamorizing a murder suspect.

The case against Mangione continues to unfold, with authorities investigating the circumstances surrounding the murder of Thompson.

Meanwhile, the public response to the incident has reignited debates over the media’s role in sensationalizing criminal cases.

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