Jimmy Kimmel was back in the studios on Tuesday night. He returned with a strong follow-up during the near-suspension of his late-night program, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The suspension was indeed a response to Kimmel’s claims that conservative activist Charlie Kirk was shot and killed. The fallout from Kimmel’s remarks sparked intense backlash, prompting Disney to take action under pressure from Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who threatened to revoke ABC’s affiliate licenses if the network did not respond.
Kimmel’s remarks had set off such a firestorm of public relations disaster that Disney was forced to suspend the show to try to stop the resulting firestorm. The unanimous decision drew outrage from much of Hollywood and advocates for free speech. Over 400 prominent figures from the entertainment industry, including Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Ben Affleck, and Robert De Niro, condemned Disney’s actions, calling it a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
On his first night returning, Kimmel spoke about the pressure put on comics in an age of Trump. He described the government’s attempts to shut down this humor as “anti-American at its core.”
“One 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’t like is anti-American.” – Jimmy Kimmel
The temporary suspension of late-night host “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” sparked widespread protests and calls for boycotts of ABC and Disney. Sinclair Broadcast Group recently made headlines for announcing that it would not be airing the show. They called on Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family and make a contribution to Turning Point USA. Kimmel is back on the regular ABC network now. Today, Sinclair and Nexstar declared their intention to persist in preempting the show on their affiliate stations, a move that means almost a quarter of ABC affiliates will be skipping Kimmel’s program.
The situation escalated further when former President Donald Trump publicly lashed out at Kimmel and criticized ABC for reinstating him. Trump remarked on social media that he was shocked that “ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” suggesting that the decision was misguided given Kimmel’s controversial comments.
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back.” – Donald Trump
In reply to Trump’s attack, Kimmel said Trump didn’t cause his show to be canceled. He actually just made it more popular.
“Donald Trump did his best to cancel me, but instead he forced millions of people to watch the show.” – Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel concluded by thanking his late-night peers and viewers who stood beside him during this chaotic time. He acknowledged the emotional weight of the situation while clarifying his original intention behind the comments that led to his suspension.
“Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what – it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual.” – Jimmy Kimmel
He went on to explain his feelings about the tragedy that has befallen Kirk by stressing unity through forgiveness rather than separation.
“Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. It touched me deeply. And if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that, not this.” – Jimmy Kimmel
Disney had previously stated that they acted to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.” Yet most detractors felt like this decision was not nearly enough to secure protections for artistic expression. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) condemned the entire episode as “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.” This idea appears to be music to many ears in Tinseltown.
Kimmel ended his first back episode on a high note, reiterating the beautiful privilege of free expression we enjoy in America.
“This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.” – Jimmy Kimmel