A-list celebrities are showing their support for Jimmy Kimmel in an open letter after his show suspension.
“We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech. Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country,” the letter began, shared via the ACLU website.
The message continued, “Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation. In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives and entertainers across the board. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.”
The letter noted that “this moment is bigger than us and our industry,” with “teachers, government employees, law firms, researchers, universities, students and so many more” facing “direct attacks on their freedom of expression.”
“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter continued. “We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power — because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”
The message concluded, “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”
The letter was signed by 400 celebrities, including Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Jean Smart, Natalie Portman, Zooey Deschanel, Meryl Streep and more.
News broke on Wednesday, September 17, that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be removed from air after his comments about Charlie Kirk, accused killer Tyler Robinson and President Donald Trump’s reaction to the tragedy. (The conservative political activist was shot and killed at a Utah Valley University event on September 10. He was 31.)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be preempted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly at the time.
Nextstar Media — which owns multiple TV stations — reportedly threatened to remove Kimmel from the lineup, with the company telling Variety in a statement that they “strongly” objected to “recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk.” Us reached out to Kimmel for comment.
Fellow late night talk show hosts — including Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver — have since reacted to the news.
“Well, guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking WTF,” Fallon said during his Thursday, September 18, show. “This morning I woke up to 100 text messages from my dad saying, ‘I’m sorry they canceled your show.’ I go, ‘That’s not me, that’s Jimmy Kimmel.’ But to be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on and no one does, but I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, loving and funny guy, and I hope he comes back.”
Fallon continued, “A lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we’ll be censored, but I’m going to cover the president’s trip to the U.K. like I normally would. Here we go. Well, guys, President Trump just wrapped up his three-day trip to the U.K. and he looked …” Fallon began to trail off, before a voiceover added, “Incredibly handsome.”