One of the bigger news stories that’s been covered this past week is Jimmy Kimmel’s ‘indefinite’ suspension from his show, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, or not so indefinite. During his Monday night show’s monologue, Kimmel commented on Charlie Kirk’s killer and also called Trump’s supporters the “MAGA gang.” On Tuesday night’s show, he made another comment, saying, “Many in MAGA-land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.” It was not until Wednesday that the company, Nexstar, which broadcasts ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, announced it would not air the show.
As Walt Disney is in charge of ABC, they felt as if they were at risk of losing their licenses. Nexstar also started discussing the idea of pulling Jimmy Kimmel’s show entirely, this was in hopes of not intensifying the controversy. ABC then confirmed that they were suspending Jimmy Kimmel’s show ‘indefinitely’ after backlash from the Federal Communications Commission Chairman, Brendan Carr, Donald Trump, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Nexstar over the comments Kimmel made on the original episode from September 15.
On Monday, September 22, Walt Disney announced that after speaking with Jimmy Kimmel, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ would air again on the following day, Tuesday, the 23. Donald Trump made public statements about how he felt about Jimmy Kimmel’s return. “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back…The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled,” Trump said. “Something happened between then and now because his audience is gone, and his ‘talent’ was never there.” He later commented, “Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million,” Trump said. “This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Across the country, many people protested Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension. Many people on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, were protesting outside the center where ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ is broadcast. People were protesting to protect the right of the First Amendment, freedom of speech. In Manhattan, New York City, there were also protests outside of the ABC studios, owned by Walt Disney, from the Writers Guild of America East, as well as outside of Walt Disney’s Headquarters. In Washington, DC, protesters were supporting the right to freedom of speech. Many of the protestors were also in support of getting rid of Donald Trump as president.
On Jimmy Kimmel’s episode on September 23, the first episode back from his suspension, Kimmel said, “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.” 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 our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.” Kimmel went on to say, “We have to speak out against this bully. He’s not stopping. And it’s not just comedy. He’s gunning for our journalists, too. He’s suing them, he’s bullying them.” It seems as though ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live! will continue as normal.