On September 17th, ´Jimmy Kimmel Live!´ was suspended by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). After remarks of late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Jimmy Kimmel received criticism from viewers and members of the FCC.
On September 15th, Jimmy Kimmel stated, ¨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,¨.
Sinclair , a broadcast group that operates over 35 ABC affiliates in the U.S. including ABC, replacing Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show with news programming. Brendan Carr, FCC Chair, threatened Disney and ABC by taking actions against Jimmy Kimmel. ABC then did not air Kimmel’s tape set for Wednesday night, September 17th.
Carr made following statements saying it was the ¨sickest conduct possible¨, and stating that ¨We at the FCC are going to enforce the public interest obligation¨, and ¨If there’s broadcasters out there that don’t like it, they can turn their license in to the FCC¨. Another FCC member Anna Gomez stated, ¨This administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression¨.
Many individuals believed that suspending Jimmy Kimmel was against first amendment rights, and threatening their freedom of speech. Others think that Jimmy Kimmel making remarks about Charlie Kirk’s death was ill-mannered.
President Trump posted on Truth Social stating, ¨Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done¨. There has been speculation that the owners of ABC are favoring the administration. The decision to suspend Kimmel followed after the Trump administration official responsible for licensing ABC’s stations pressured the company to punish Kimmel. Many believe that they pressured ABC to punish Kimmel.
An ABC spokesperson states, ¨Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,¨. After a six-day suspension, Kimmel returned to air on September 23.
Now, an interview from the advisor of the Young Democrats of America, Mrs. Cooke. When asked if she thinks that it was fair for Jimmy Kimmel’s show to be suspended, Cooke responded with, ¨I think the suspension was technically “fair” in that a private media company can decide which shows they want to air. However, I do think the suspension was utterly corrupt and was driven not by commercial interests, but by our current President not being able to handle criticism ¨.
Cooke responded with, ¨ It happens that Disney has been working on a lucrative merger that requires FCC approval, so the “choice” of ABC to suddenly cancel Kimmel’s long-running show right after Carr made those comments strikes me as a serious First Amendment breach. The First Amendment specifies that that government shall not interfere with free speech. Carr’s public comment is unequivocal government interference. For whatever reason (perhaps because Kimmel’s comments were so innocuous), his abrupt cancellation struck fear in the hearts of all who understand the First Amendment and the implications of allowing this to go unchallenged.¨, when asked if she believed these events are affecting our freedom of speech.
Another interview from Viviana Ramirez (9), who is a member of the Young Democrats of America, states, “No, I don’t think it’s fair considering he didn’t do anything wrong, people are saying he was mocking Charlie Kirk’s death, which he wasn’t. He was mocking Donald Trump which made him upset, and ultimately caused the suspension of his show”, when asked if she believed that it was fair for Kimmel’s show to be suspended.
When asked if she believed that these events are affecting our freedom of speech Ramirez responded by saying, “Yes, because now we can’t make a negative statement on TV without the president trying to censor us, and that’s literally the opposite of what freedom of speech is”.