She recalled the September period when her husband\u2019s show was pulled off the air over comments about far-right podcaster Charlie Kirk\u2019s alleged killer. McNearney emphasized the fallout that followed. <\/p>\n
\u201cI watched a show and co-workers and friends and a man I love be put on \u2018indefinite suspension\u2019 after our thin-skinned president asked for his removal and his [Federal Communications Commission] chair to publicly threaten the company we work for,\u201d McNearney said. \u201cIt is a fragile time for freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Molly](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/6931b77e1900006e0e7f3467.jpeg\")
Molly McNearney attends the Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment breakfast Wednesday in Beverly Hills, California. <\/p>\n
Michael Kovac via Getty Images<\/p>\n
McNearney went on, \u201cFreedom of speech is the foundation on which this great country was built. A freedom that great Americans like James Madison, Frederick Douglass, Alice Paul and a bunch of other people I Googled late last night fought really hard for us to have and to keep.\u201d<\/p>\n
She then broadened her message.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lose our freedoms when we are scared and when we are distracted,\u201d she said. \u201cI have been very consumed by both. Fear is contagious, but the good news is, so is bravery.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"Jimmy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/6931b7b0190000a5506a0f83.jpeg\")
Jimmy Kimmel and McNearney attend the Hollywood Reporter’s annual Women in Entertainment event at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Wednesday in Beverly Hills, California.<\/p>\n
Emma McIntyre via Getty Images<\/p>\n
McNearney noted that she\u2019s watched her husband, his staff and other late night hosts consistently hold those in power to account \u2014 and do so without flinching. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe must not be afraid to speak up and speak out to protect this country and all the people in it,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
The executive producer also shared that her \u201chusband and her workplace\u201d have been \u201cthreatened by the president of the United States multiple times, and the propaganda machine that feasts on deliberately misinterpreting\u201d their words.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m one of the lucky ones. We got knocked down, and with all of you, you helped us get back up,\u201d she told the audience. <\/p>\n
After a wave of public backlash, Kimmel was back on the air by Sept. 23. His program had been pulled<\/a> the previous week, on Sept. 17, after the FCC<\/a> threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s wife had a few pointed words for President Donald Trump. Speaking at the Hollywood Reporter\u2019s Women…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175231,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[969,93,61,60,3484,44514,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-175230","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-ireland","12":"tag-jimmy-kimmel","13":"tag-molly-mcnearney","14":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175230","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175230"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175230\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}