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On Wednesday, ABC announced that it would be pulling new episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! “indefinitely” after remarks about Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin sparked right-wing rage and comments from FCC chair Brendan Carr. Kimmel is getting canceled for the set-up to a joke, not even the punchline. In Monday night’s monologue, Kimmel said “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.” Carr told YouTuber Benny Johnson that he was considering pulling ABC’s affiliate licenses because Kimmel characterized Charlie Robinson as MAGA-affiliated. This “appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into the narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person,” Carr said. “What people don’t understand is that the broadcasters … have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” ABC and media company Nexstar have apparently decided to take the easy way. Nexstar said it would be preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its affiliate stations, and shortly thereafter ABC said it was pulling new episodes of the show.
President Trump did a victory lap on Truth Social. “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. 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!!!”
On the pro-Kimmel side, we have Ben Stiller, California senator Adam Schiff, and California governor Gavin Newsom decrying Carr’s remarks and ABC’s decision to take Kimmel off the air. Both the WGA and American Federation of Musicians (who represent Kimmel’s band) issued statements in defense of their union members. “This is not complicated,” the AFM wrote. “Trump’s FCC identified speech it did not like and threatened ABC with extreme reprisals. This is state censorship.” The WGA criticized both the government and the network in their statement. “The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other — to disturb, even — is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice,” the statement reads. “Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world. The WGA stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.”
Hayes focused primarily on Carr’s remarks, laying blame for Kimmel’s enforced hiatus at “state actors.” He tweeted, “This is the most straightforward attack on free speech from state actors I’ve ever seen in my life and it’s not even close.”
Stiller was concise, reposting a report from The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Flint and captioning it, “This isn’t right.”
Newsom seemed to link Kimmel going off the air to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s cancellation, as well as with the firing of MSNBC commentator Matthew Dowd and Trump buddies taking control of TikTok. “Buying and controlling media platforms. Firing commentators. Canceling shows. These aren’t coincidences,” he wrote. “It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous. The @GOP does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time.”
Adam Schiff also compared what’s happening to Kimmel with what’s already happened to Colbert. He mentioned Trump’s lawsuits against the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and 60 Minutes. “This administration is responsible for the most blatant attacks on the free press in American history,” he wrote. “What will be left of the First Amendment when he’s done?”
Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker called Kimmel’s cancellation “an attack off free speech” on Bluesky. He urged elected officials to speak up in defense of the First Amendment: “A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the President doesn’t like what they say. This is an attack on free speech and cannot be allowed to stand.”
Oates came to Kimmel’s defense despite not being a late-night enjoyer. “As one who avoids nearly all late-night comics & has never seen Jimmy Kimmell [sic] or his rivals still it seems sad that anyone is so abruptly fired for anything he says however awkward or inappropriate,” she wrote. “Much of humor is edgy, surreal, exaggerated, & can’t be fact-checked. if a joke is in poor taste or falls flat the audience’s silence is punishment enough for the comic.”
Speaking from experience, Griffin said it was imperative Kimmel have support in this moment. “Please, take it from me, it is very important to have Jimmy Kimmel‘s back right now,” she wrote on Bluesky. “Be vocal. Be an ideological consumer. Money is all their crowd cares about.”
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