Call Jimmy Kimmel naive.
In an interview this summer with Variety for a story examining Donald Trump’s attacks on media companies and journalists, Kimmel was asked if he was worried that the Trump administration would start coming after comedians in the same way.
“Well, you’d have to be naive not to worry a little bit. But that can’t change what you’re doing,” Kimmel said. “And maybe it is naive, but I have the hope that if and when the day comes that he does start coming after comedians, that even my colleagues on the right will support my right to say what I like. Now, I could be kidding myself, and hopefully we’ll never find out. But if we do, I would hope that the outrage is significant.”
But now that Trump and his backers have succeeded in forcing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (for now) off the air, the MAGA-verse — supposedly, a group of full-throated supporters of free speech — has reacted with glee, not outrage.
Trump, of course, reveled in the news. “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” the U.S. president posted on social media while on a visit to the U.K. Carr also celebrated Kimmel’s suspension: When CNN correspondent Brian Stelter asked FCC chairman Brendan Carr for comment after the ABC announcement, Carr sent him a GIF with “The Office’s” Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) making “raise the roof” gestures.
“Everyone please congratulate @marcorubio, the new host of ABC’s late night show!” Vice President JD Vance wrote on X. Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson, who had hosted the interview with Carr that resulted in Kimmel’s benching by ABC, posted: “2 years ago. Jimmy Kimmel: ‘I’m telling you right now Donald Trump is going to jail.’ He is now cancelled and unemployed.”
How do right-wing figures square their support for the First Amendment with Kimmel’s sidelining? The narrative pushed by the political right is that Kimmel was put in the penalty box because ABC affiliates were outraged about comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s killer. Here’s what Kimmel said on the Sept. 15 show: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize the kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Note that Kimmel wasn’t saying he thought the alleged shooter was a MAGA supporter — but that’s what conservative people heard. Kimmel’s framing of the situation came after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox’s statement on Sunday that the suspect had a “leftist ideology.” But even if Kimmel misspoke or cherry-picked facts, his speech is still protected by the U.S. Constitution.
Greg Gutfeld, who hosts a primetime comedy show on Fox News, said on X that Kimmel “deliberately and misleadingly blamed” the killing of Kirk “on Kirk’s allies and friends.” Responding to “The Five” co-host Jessica Tarlov’s comment that “Free speech advocates on the right have a lot of heavy lifting to do,” Gutfeld wrote, “Pretty easy lift. You have a right to be wrong. The company you work for has a right to pull you for it. The heavy lifting is on your end or you would have made your case. 😎”
What that ignores is that the Trump administration used the force of the U.S. government to successfully get Kimmel suspended. The FCC’s Carr, on Johnson’s podcast, explicitly threatened ABC and its affiliates if they didn’t “take action” on Kimmel: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” Nexstar responded soon after Carr made those comments, saying it would stop airing “Kimmel” immediately. Not coincidentally: Nexstar’s pending $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna requires the FCC’s approval, including an exemption of the current ownership cap (or an elimination of the rule). After Sinclair, another major TV station group, joined the Kimmel boycott, ABC decided to suspend the late-night host to figure out next steps.
Meanwhile, former Fox anchor Megyn Kelly posted “GOOD RIDDANCE” about Kimmel’s suspension and evidently believes Kimmel doesn’t have the right to free speech in this case. “I have zero doubt ABC was overwhelmed with absolutely furious calls/comments/emails from truly-FED UP viewers, and knew it had crossed a deadly serious line.” She wrote that “what the Left doesn’t seem to understand and needs to hear is that MAGA has f&cking HAD IT. We are ANGRY. We are INCENSED watching the L smear us, our ppl, literally getting some of our friends killed (not to mention our president shot and nearly assassinated again weeks later) and then LYING about it.”
In the interview with Variety this summer, Kimmel was asked how he’s doing mentally, given the grind of talking about the Trump administration day after day. He said jokingly that “I’m taking a lot of medication for my Trump Derangement Syndrome, trying to take it, but otherwise, just every day is full of surprises.”
Michael Schneider contributed to this article.
