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Jimmy Kimmel has set his sights on President Donald Trump, the Federal Communications Commission, and his demands about his show as Jimmy Kimmel Live! I returned after a short break.
The 57-year-old late-night host returned to his TV screen on Tuesday, September 23rd. The suspension of last week’s show gave us a lengthy monologue that addresses the support we received from our viewers and critics.
Kimmel’s long-term show was suspended “indefinitely” by Disney’s ABC due to comments that the host made the September 15th of the assassination on September 10th, his archer, Tyler Robinson, and Trump’s “make America Great” supporters.
In the aftermath, FCC Chairman Brendan Kerr appears to have made a threatening statement on Benny Johnson’s podcast on September 17th.
“Frankly, when we see something like this — we can do this in an easy or difficult way,” he said.
He continued, “These companies can, frankly, find ways to change their behavior and take action at Kimmel, or they’ll have additional work done beyond the FCC.”
Carr added that if Kimmel does not face any consequences, the FCC will consider “relief.”
In his comeback monologue, Kimmel implied that Kerr violated his primary right to free speech in his remarks as a government official. He described the interview as “not a particularly intellectual threat to doing it in public.”
Kimmel noted that Kerr was previously a supporter of political satire in 2022, but he agreed with former President Joe Biden’s attitude on the topic, writing that it was “one of the oldest and most important speech.”
“Do you know who wrote it?” Kimmel asked the audience Tuesday. “FCC Commissioner Brendan Kerr was later appointed chairman of the FCC by this former crusade for free speech.”
The screen behind the host aired a 2022 interview. Trump stressed the importance of freedom of speech, saying that America is not a “free country without it.”
Randy Holmes/Disney via Getty
Kimmel argued that Sen. Ted Cruz compared Kerr to a “maphios (mob or mafia member)” but he did not necessarily agree with the sentiment.
“If you want to hear the mob boss pose such a threat, you’ll need to hide the microphone in the deli and park in a van with a tape recorder all night,” the host said. “The genius said that on his podcast. Brendan Carr is the most embarrassing car the Republicans have ever seen since. And it’s saying something,” he said.
Kimmel also addressed the question of whether there was a “state” he had to meet in order to air.
“There’s one,” he said as he pulled a piece of paper out of his suit. “Disney asked me to read the following statement, and I agreed to do it. Go here. “Open the Disney+ app on a smart TV or TV-connected device to revitalize your Disney+ and Hulu accounts.”
After Disney announced the show’s return on Monday, September 22nd, broadcast and media companies Sinclair and Nexter Media have opted out of airing Jimmy Kimmel Live!
On Wednesday, September 17th, a statement on the X Sinclair wrote that the suspension was “not enough.”
Disney/Randy Holmes
The company has called on Kimmel to “apologise directly to the Kirk family” and said it needs to make meaningful personal donations to the Kirk family and Turning Point USA, the right-wing organizations that Kirk co-founded.
In a comeback monologue, Kimmel expressed repentance for his comments, pointing to his previous support for Kirk’s family, adding that it was not intended to condemn a particular group of people who were “evidently deeply disturbed individuals.”
Disney/Randy Holmes
“It was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that for some people it felt untimed or unknown, or both.
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Trump has beaten the decision to make Jimmy Kimmel live! Returning to the Truth Social statement, he said he believes the show has been “cancelled.”
“Why do they want someone who is so poor, not funny, and putting their network at risk by playing 99% positive Democrat trash? He is even another arm of the DNC, and as far as I know, it will be a major illegal campaign contribution,” he writes.
“I think we’re going to test ABC on this. Let’s see how we do it. The last time I followed them they gave me $16 million, which sounds even more advantageous,” Trump said.
Telling Trump “there is no rating,” Kimmel said, “I’ll do it tonight.”
“You almost need to feel sorry for him,” he said of the president. “He tried his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show.
