Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled off the air by ABC this week following threats from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr. Kimmel is shown above in Hollywood, Calif., in 2018.
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Turner
hide caption
toggle caption
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Turner
Late night talk show hosts warned about the future of free speech in the U.S. on Thursday, a day after ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s show off the air under pressure from the Trump administration.
Kimmel’s comments on Monday night about the suspect in Charlie Kirk’s killing angered the administration. The late night host, who had called the murder “senseless” after it happened, said on his show Monday night, “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.”
By Wednesday, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr was threatening ABC owner Disney, saying on a podcast, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” That night, ABC said it had pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air indefinitely.
President Trump suggested other late night TV should be pulled as well.
“That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!” Trump posted on Truth Social.
On Thursday, Seth Meyers said on his show that the president was cracking down on…