But Colbert\u2019s riposte was firm: \u201cYou know what my community values are, buster? Freedom of speech!\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimmel\u2019s show was suspended not long after Nexstar Communications Group announced plans to pull the program from its 23 ABC affiliates. Carr called Kimmel\u2019s comments \u201ctruly sick\u201d and said his agency had a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading misinformation.<\/p>\n
There was no immediate comment from Kimmel, whose contract is up in May 2026. In its statement announcing the suspension, ABC didn\u2019t cite a reason.<\/p>\n
Seth Meyers also weighed in during his show on Thursday night, accusing the Trump administration of \u201cpursuing a crackdown on free speech\u201d, then joking \u201cif you\u2019ve ever seen me say anything negative about him, that\u2019s just AI\u201d.<\/p>\n
Then Meyers devoted his Closer Look segment to examining the issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a privilege and an honour to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend in the same way that it\u2019s a privilege and honour to do this show every night,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wake up every day, I count my blessings that I live in a country that at least purports to value freedom of speech, and we\u2019re gonna keep doing our show the way we\u2019ve always done it: with enthusiasm and integrity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must all stand up for the principles of free expression. There\u2019s a reason free speech is in the very first amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Veteran host Jon Stewart also used The Daily Show \u2013 which he normally hosts only on Mondays \u2013 to take aim at the Trump administration over the issue by satirically playing the role of nervous host heaping praise upon the president and the set of the show adorned with decorative gold engravings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have another fun, hilarious administration-compliant show,\u201d the opening voiceover said.<\/p>\n
Stewart then referenced Trump\u2019s move to place the National Guard on the streets of Washington DC.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing to you tonight from the real (expletive), the crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no one\u2019s ever seen before. Someone\u2019s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n
He then described Trump\u2019s visit to the United Kingdom this week, calling the president \u201cour great father.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cGaze upon him. With a gait even more majestic than that of the royal horses that prance before him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, David Letterman, Colbert\u2019s predecessor on The Late Show, feared for the future of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel bad about this, because we all see where see this is going, correct? It\u2019s managed media,\u201d Letterman said during an appearance Thursday at The Atlantic Festival in New York. \u201cIt\u2019s no good. It\u2019s silly. It\u2019s ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that people shouldn\u2019t be fired just because they don\u2019t \u201csuck up\u201d to what Letterman called \u201can authoritarian\u201d president.<\/p>\n