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Jimmy Kimmel speaks onstage while hosting the 96th Annual Academy Awards in March 2024. Labor unions, free speech groups and fellow entertainers are rallying around him after ABC suspended his late-night show on Wednesday. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption
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Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Criticism — and concern about free speech — is pouring in after ABC abruptly suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! under pressure from the Trump administration.
ABC announced Wednesday that it would take Kimmel's show off the air indefinitely, after threats from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr to the stations that carry it. Speaking on a podcast hosted by a conservative commentator, Carr took issue with comments Kimmel had made in Monday's onscreen monologue about Republicans' reaction to Charlie Kirk's killing, which the late-night host had previously condemned.
When asked about Kimmel's suspension at a press conference Thursday morning, President Trump said Kimmel was "fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk."
"You can call that free speech or not, he was fired for lack of talent," Trump said.
Civil rights groups, labor unions, Democratic politicians and Hollywood A-listers have condemned the move as an attack on the First Amendment, not only for Kimmel and his writers but for Americans as a whole.
"Trump officials are repeatedly abusing their power to stop ideas they don't like, deciding who can speak, write, and even joke," Christopher Anders, director of the ACLU's Democracy and Technology Division, said in a statement. "The Trump administration's actions, paired with ABC's capitulation, represent a grave threat to our First Amendment freedoms."
Earlier Wednesday, before ABC's announcement, Nexstar — which operates 32 of the country's ABC stations and is currently seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger — said it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Another TV station operator, Sinclair Broadcast Group, quickly followed suit.
The suspension is being cheered by Republicans, including Trump and Carr himself. But the government's perceived involvement — and the network's compliance — is facing widespread condemnation by left-leaning politicians and entertainers, as well as several nonpartisan groups.
"We cannot be a country where late night talk show hosts serve at the pleasure of the president," said free speech group the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). "But until institutions grow a backbone and learn to resist government pressure, that is the country we are."
NPR reached out to Jimmy Kimmel and his show but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Democrats — including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom — are also saying that Trump's and Carr's words contradict their past statements in favor of free speech and against government censorship. When Trump began his second term in January, for instance, he signed an executive order establishing policies to prevent government interference in constitutionally protected speech.
But some critics of the administration say they are seeing the opposite.
The Trump administration has withheld funding from universities it says aren't doing enough to fight antisemitism amid pro-Palestinian protests, and sued media outlets, including this week, the New York Times. Attorney General Pam Bondi drew criticism for saying this week that the Justice Department would go after "hate speech" in the wake of Kirk's killing, later clarifying it would only go after speech that leads to violence.
ABC's decision to suspend Kimmel comes two months after the July announcement that CBS' The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will end next year. The network cited financial reasons, but the timing fueled speculation that its parent company's then-pending merger and Colbert's recent criticisms of Trump contributed to its cancellation.
"After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn't like," former president Barack Obama said in a statement Thursday, calling on media companies to "start standing up rather than capitulating to it."
When asked for comment, the White House referred NPR to Trump's press conference and Carr's tweets praising the cancellation.
"Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest," Carr wrote in one, before singling out ABC's parent company. "While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values."
Sinclair applauded Carr's remarks in a statement, saying suspending Kimmel's show is not enough. It urged him to apologize to Kirk's family and donate to his family and nonprofit.
Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith called Kimmel's remarks "inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country," and said broadcasters have a responsibility to elevate respectful dialogue in their communities. Sinclair stations will air a tribute to Kirk on Friday.
Smith said "this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.
Camera crews and onlookers gather in front of the Jimmy Kimmel Live studio on Hollywood Blvd. in Los Angeles on Wednesday. Chris Pizzello/Invision hide caption
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Chris Pizzello/Invision
What Democrats are saying
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Oversight committee, announced on Thursday morning that he will launch an investigation into the Trump administration, ABC and Sinclair "amid ongoing efforts to censor opposition to the President of the United States."
"Every American has a duty to stand up for our First Amendment values," Garcia said in a statement shared with NPR. "We will not be silent as our freedoms are threatened by corrupt schemes and threats. Anyone who is complicit will need to answer to us."
House Democratic leaders called on Carr to resign on Thursday, in a joint statement that accused him of engaging in "the corrupt abuse of power … by bullying ABC, the employer of Jimmy Kimmel, and forcing the company to bend the knee to the Trump administration."
NPR has reached out to the FCC for comment but did not hear back by publication time.
The House Democrats, while accusing Trump and Republicans of waging a "war on the First Amendment," also said media companies "have a lot to explain."
"The censoring of artists and cancellation of shows is an act of cowardice. It may also be part of a corrupt pay-to-play scheme," they wrote. "House Democrats will make sure the American people learn the truth, even if that requires the relentless unleashing of congressional subpoena power. This will not be forgotten."
Many other high-profile Democrats have criticized the Trump administration, accusing it of censorship, including Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
In a video, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., lamented "the systematic destruction of free speech in this country" — citing Colbert and Kimmel as examples — and urged Americans to mobilize in what he called a "red-alert moment."
"This is a moment for all of us to be out on the streets protesting, because if you don't raise your voices right now about the assault on free speech, about Donald Trump's decision to disgustingly exploit the murder of Charlie Kirk so as to try to permanently render powerless and impotent those who politically oppose him, there may be no democracy to save a year from now," Murphy said.
What the industry is saying
Multiple labor unions representing Hollywood writers, actors and musicians were quick to condemn Kimmel's suspension and assert their support for freedom of expression.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) — which represents Kimmel's writers — issued a statement opposing "anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent," noting that the Constitution protects "the freeing agreement to disagree."
"Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth," the union added. "As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world."
SAG-AFTRA, which represents performers and media professionals — including NPR journalists — called the decision "the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone's freedoms." And the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada accused the Trump administration of "state censorship."
"It's now happening in the United States of America, not some far-off country. It's happening right here and right now," said union president Tino Gagliardi.
Many celebrities also took up Kimmel's cause and expressed their dismay at his silencing, from actors like Jean Smart and Ben Stiller to fellow comedians including Kathy Griffin, Mike Birbiglia and Alex Edelman.
Wanda Sykes posted an Instagram video on Wednesday night in which she said she had a full face of makeup on because she had been scheduled to appear on Kimmel's abruptly-cancelled show.
"So let's see. He didn't end the Ukraine war or solve Gaza within his first week, but he did end freedom of speech within his first year," Sykes said of Trump. "For those of you who pray, now's the time to do it. Love you, Jimmy."
It's not just outspoken Democrats who are concerned.
Former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, a registered Independent, called on Americans to wake up, writing in a tweet that "If you think ABC capitulating to Trump to suspend Jimmy Kimmel's show is no big deal … just wait for what could be next."
Brit Hume, Fox News' chief political analyst, weighed in on X, writing that the First Amendment does not protect performers like Kimmel from being canceled by their private-sector employers.
"But I would have liked the outcome a lot better if the chairman of the FCC had not involved himself in it," he wrote.
