Photo: Randy Holmes/ABC/Getty Images
Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been suspended indefinitely, and once again, former late-night hosts are worried about what will become of their old stomping grounds. Speaking to The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, at the Atlantic Festival on September 18, David Letterman called Kimmel’s recent suspension by ABC “misery” before sharing how he believes the late-night censorship is just the beginning, and it will soon start to affect everyone else. “In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,” he explained. Letterman, who ended his cable late-night run in 2015, shared his fears for what might happen next. “I feel bad about this because we see where this is all going, correct?” he continued. “It’s managed media. And it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. And you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.”
ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely came after FCC chairman Brendan Carr condemned Kimmel’s comments on Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In response, Sinclair and Nexstar, two companies that independently own 185 and 197 television stations across the US, announced that they would no longer air Kimmel’s show, leading to the suspension. “Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets,” the company shared in a statement.
In his September 15 monologue, Kimmel suggested that conservatives were trying to categorize the shooter as “anything other than” MAGA. He also expressed his condolences for Kirk’s death and shared how appalled he was at some of the reactions to Kirk’s assassination. “His death has amplified our anger, our differences, and I’ve seen a lot of extraordinarily vile responses to this from both sides of the political spectrum,” he said. “Some people are cheering this, which is something I won’t ever understand.”
Related