Unless you’ve been underneath a rock for the past week, you’re well aware late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was suspended from his television talk show. Largely because of his ongoing battle with Trump and his supporting MAGA movement, although they would have you believe it was all about Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel returned to the network and his program the evening of September 23. He strolled onto the ABC stage with his usual swagger, but his words were a mixed blend of humor, regret for the violence surrounding Kirk’s assassination and thanks for the support he’s received. He also offered up praise for Kirk’s widow, who has said that she forgives Kirk’s reported killer.
“I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours. Me or the CEO of Tylenol,” Kimmel cracked. “So it’s been overwhelming. I’ve heard from a lot of people over the last six days. I’ve heard from all the people in the world over the last six days, everyone I have ever met has reached out 10 or 11 times.
“Some that I do especially want to mention are my fellow late-night talk show hosts, my friend Stephen Colbert,” Kimmel continued. “He’s found himself in this predicament. My friends Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Conan O’Brien, James Corden, Arsenio, Kathy, Wanda, Chelsea, even Jay (Leno) reached out. I heard from late-night hosts in other countries, from Ireland and from Germany. The guy in Germany offered me a job. Can you imagine?This country has become so authoritarian, the Germans are like, “Come here. Cut loose.”
Kimmel also responded to support that came from conservatives who were outraged that Kimmel’s right to free speech had been trounced.
“And maybe, weirdly, maybe, most of all, I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway. I never would have imagined it. Like Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz who, believe it or not, said something very beautiful on my behalf.
“If the government gets in the business of saying … what you can and can’t say, what you the media have said [and] we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like, that will end up bad for conservatives,” Cruz said on a video clip.
With his voice occasionally breaking emotionally, Kimmel said he understood why his comments about the suspected shooter seemed “ill-timed, or unclear, or maybe both.” He added, “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”
Kimmel asserted he in no way agreed with Disney’s decision to temporarily can his show, but thanked the company, which owns ABC, for defending his right to poke fun at politicians and for allowing him back on the air.
“Unfortunately, and I think unjustly, this puts them at risk,” he said. “The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from their job. Our ‘leader’ celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”
As expected, Trump took to his social media site Truth Social in advance of Kimmel’s expected monologue, making up false claims regarding the show’s ratings and insinuating he would file a lawsuit against the network. “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” Trump wrote. “The White House was told by ABC that his show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE,” Trump wrote in his post.
“I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do,” Trump continued. “Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Kimmel ‘s “indefinite suspension” came about following comments he made about Tyler Robinson, the suspected assassin of far right wing MAGA activist and social media personality Charlie Kirk.
“… the Maga gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points.”
While that’s not untrue, the statement was enough to send Trump and his MAGA devotees into a fury, demanding Kimmel apologize and make a financial donation to Turning Point USA if he wanted to keep his job.
Kimmel did not capitulate and his suspension proved to be slightly less than a week.
His reappearance on the airwaves was the result of a mass campaign from viewers of the successful show and supporters of the American Constitution, with specifies the right to free speech. Across the nation Americans outraged by ABC and parent company Disney’s decision to cave into the Trump administration’s demands lead to Disney’s stock falling by an estimated 2.39 percent between September 17 and 23, representing a loss of approximately $4.99 billion, according to The Economic Times.
As indicated by the financial loss, the move backfired on Disney.
While his program did return to most ABC affiliates, it did not return to all. Stations owned by Sinclair Media, among them KOMO in Seattle, WJLA in Washington, KDNL in St. Louis, KTUL in Tulsa and KATU in Portland refused to carry the program. Nexstar Media responded similarly, with stations like WKRN in Nashville, KTVX in Salt Lake City, WGNO in New Orleans, WRIC in Richmond, and WATE in Knoxville were also blacked out, replacing Kimmel’s show with reported “local programming.”
