On Wednesday the 17th, under an unusual amount of pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, ABC made the controversial decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel and his show from their network. This was, according to ABC, due to a string of comments over the recent murder of right-wing political activist Charlie Kirk. This action faced massive repercussions from both fans of the show and left-aligned citizens, who expressed their belief that the pulling of the show was a form of censorship and therefore violated First Amendment rights. After an intense series of protests, ABC eventually reinstated Kimmel and his show on Tuesday the 23rd.
The situation began on the night of Monday the 15th, when Kimmel began commenting on Trump and his supporters’ reaction to the killing, referring to Trump’s supporters as “the MAGA gang.” Kimmel called out Republicans on their insistence over the political alignment of Kirk’s killer, saying, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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 from it.” Jimmy follows this up by mentioning President Trump’s reaction to a news reporter who questioned the president about the murder. “Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” said Kimmel. “Demolition, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend; this is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
These statements faced massive backlash on platforms such as X on the following days after clips of the statements were shared online. This, paired with pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, led to ABC’s drastic decision to remove Jimmy Kimmel and his show from their network.
This decision faced roaring protest from left-leaning citizens and Jimmy Kimmel fans alike. “He was chill,” an anonymous 11th-grade student said, believing that his removal from the station was “no good.” A significant amount of action was taken by these fans, which, according to Sacramento Police, even escalated to a trio of gunshots outside of a local ABC station. A multitude of political figureheads, such as Senator Bernie Sanders, commented on the situation, stating, “The US government can’t force Jimmy Kimmel, or anyone else, off the air because they disagree with what he says. Clearly, FCC Chair [Brendan] Carr hasn’t read the Constitution. Kimmel should be reinstated. [Brendan] Carr should resign.”
And it’s not only senators or governors that are claiming Kimmel’s removal is infringing on constitutional rights—Lou Wolf, a longtime Jimmy Kimmel fan, described the situation as “huge” and stated that Kimmel’s removal was “clearly censorship.”
After a significant amount of backlash, especially from the American Civil Liberties Union, Disney (being the parent company of ABC) eventually permitted Kimmel’s reinstatement. Kimmel made his triumphant return to ABC on September 23rd, with actor Glen Powell as his guest. Kimmel so far has refrained from any public comments regarding his suspension or reinstatement.
