{"id":41912,"date":"2025-09-25T03:45:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T03:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/41912\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T03:45:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T03:45:10","slug":"jimmy-kimmel-says-silencing-comedians-is-anti-american-as-his-show-returns-to-air-after-suspension-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/41912\/","title":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel says silencing comedians is \u2018anti American\u2019, as his show returns to air after suspension \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jimmy Kimmel returned to air on Tuesday night, calling government threats to silence comedians \u201canti American\u201d, as he broke his silence about the suspension from ABC which ignited a national debate over free speech<\/a> and outcry over the bullying tactics of the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis show is not important,\u201d Kimmel said during his first monologue since Disney, which owns ABC, suspended his late-night show from the network last week under pressure from Trump officials over his comments on the shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk<\/a>. \u201cWhat is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Kimmel\u2019s comments come one day after Disney, facing backlash from Hollywood stars, unions, media hosts and even Republicans such as Ted Cruz, allowed Jimmy Kimmel Live! to resume production.<\/p>\n

The company had indefinitely suspended the show after right-wing outcry over Kimmel\u2019s September 15th monologue, in which he said that \u201cthe Maga gang [is] desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, Mr Kimmel thanked his fellow late-night hosts for their support and thanked his audience and supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd most of all I want to thank the people who don\u2019t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway,\u201d Kimmel added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do want to make something clear, because it\u2019s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything funny about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cNor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what \u2013 it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual,\u201d he said. \u201cThat was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you\u2019re upset. If the situation was reversed, there\u2019s a good chance I\u2019d have felt the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018A win for free speech everywhere\u2019: politicians and celebrities on Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s return to airOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Later in the monologue, Mr Kimmel hit out against Trump, saying that the president \u201cdid his best to cancel me\u201d but that \u201cinstead, he forced millions of people to watch the show\u201d. <\/p>\n

Mr Kimmel added that \u201cthe president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can\u2019t take a joke.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern, is that a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn\u2019t like is anti American,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Kimmel closed his monologue by reflecting on remarks made by Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk, at her late husband\u2019s memorial service over the weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cErika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cThat is an example we should follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt touched me deeply,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd if there\u2019s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that, not this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Kimmel\u2019s comments on the shooting of Mr Kirk angered supporters of US president Donald Trump<\/a> and officials who have vowed to avenge the death of the conservative activist. Last Wednesday, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, threatened ABC\u2019s affiliate licenses if Disney did not \u201ctake action\u201d against the host. <\/p>\n

Two broadcast groups that own hundreds of affiliate stations \u2013 Nexstar, which is currently seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger, and Sinclair \u2013 then refused to air the programme, leading Disney chief executive Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden to suspend production.<\/p>\n

The move drew intense backlash from the Hollywood community and free speech advocates and prompted boycotts and protests against both ABC and Disney.<\/p>\n

Around an hour before Kimmel\u2019s return on Tuesday, Mr Trump lashed out at Kimmel and criticised ABC for allowing the comedian\u2019s show back on air.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,\u201d Mr Trump wrote on Tuesday night. \u201cThe White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his \u2018talent\u2019 was never there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019re going to test ABC out on this,\u201d Mr Trump added.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative,\u201d Mr Trump said, seemingly referring to the settlement he reached with ABC News last year in a defamation lawsuit Trump filed against the network.<\/p>\n

On Monday, hours before Disney announced Mr Kimmel\u2019s return, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released an open letter signed by over 400 Hollywood stars condemning Disney\u2019s decision as \u201ca dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation\u201d. Signees included Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Ben Affleck and Robert De Niro.<\/p>\n

In a statement on Monday, the company said the decision to pre-empt Mr Kimmel\u2019s show was made \u201cto avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,\u201d the statement continued. \u201cWe have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Mr Kimmel\u2019s show returned to ABC on Tuesday, it did not return to ABC affiliate networks owned by Sinclair. The company, which is known to promote conservative talking points, said it would not allow the late-night show to air until Mr Kimmel apologised to Mr Kirk\u2019s family and made a donation to his conservative activist group Turning Point USA.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be pre-empting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming,\u201d the company said, which has the nation\u2019s largest number of ABC affiliate stations.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiscussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show\u2019s potential return,\u201d the group added in a statement late Monday.<\/p>\n

Nexstar also confirmed that it will continue to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its stations in 22 states. \u201cWe made a decision last week to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live! following what ABC referred to as Mr Kimmel\u2019s \u2018ill-timed and insensitive\u2019 comments at a critical time in our national discourse,\u201d the company said. \u201cWe stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two companies\u2019 continued pre-emption means that Jimmy Kimmel Live! did not air on almost a quarter of ABC affiliate stations. The show continues to be available online as well as on the streaming services Hulu and Disney+. \u2013 Guardian<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jimmy Kimmel returned to air on Tuesday night, calling government threats to silence comedians \u201canti American\u201d, as he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41913,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[13477,969,93,61,60,90],"class_list":{"0":"post-41912","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-charlie-kirk","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41912","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=41912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}