The hosts of ABC’s “The View,” renowned for weighing in on public debates and controversies, strongly condemned Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension after two episodes of silence on the hot topic.
“Did y’all really think we weren’t going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel?” Whoopi Goldberg said to open Monday’s broadcast. “I mean, have you watched the show over the last 29 seasons? So you know, no one silences us.”
After Kimmel’s long-running talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was yanked off the air last week, many fans of “The View” were surprised the hosts didn’t discuss ABC and its parent company, Disney’s, controversial move. Some even theorized their shared network had barred the hosts from mentioning Kimmel.
However, Goldberg explained Monday that the show was waiting to see if Kimmel would share his side of the story.
“When the news broke last week about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, we took a breath to see if Jimmy was going to say anything about it first,” Goldberg said. “We did the same thing with Stephen Colbert.”
She added later, “We talk about freedom of speech a lot because we are always in somebody’s mess because somebody has decided that we have said something that’s offensive. We fight for everybody’s right to have freedom of speech because it means my speech is free. It means your speech is free.”
‘The View’ defended Kimmel, citing that freedom of speech must be protected
Goldberg’s four co-hosts agreed that the First Amendment is fundamental and must be protected. Attorney and legal analyst Sunny Hostin said freedom of speech “undergirds our democracy,” while Alyssa Farah Griffin, who self-identifies as conservative, said, “The First Amendment is the first for a reason because you need to be able to hold those in power accountable.”
“I want to start by thanking our loyal viewers for demanding truth and courage from us. You deserve it, and we’ll give it to you,” Ana Navarro, a former Republican strategist who has described herself as a centrist, said. “The part that I don’t understand, that is so ironic to me, is how the horrible, senseless assassination of Charlie Kirk — a man I disagreed with, but who stood for debate, who stood for freedom of speech — is being used to silence people and cancel people.”
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Kimmel has drawn support from fellow celebrities and Democratic politicians after he caught the ire of Brendan Carr, Donald Trump’s pick to head the Federal Communications Commission.
Carr targeted the comedian for poking fun at the “MAGA gang” and their reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder during his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” monologue last Monday.
While appearing on conservative commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast, Carr threatened to revoke ABC licenses if the network continued to air Kimmel’s show, adding, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Nexstar, a company that owns ABC affiliates and is awaiting FCC approval for a $6.2 billion acquisition deal, announced hours later that it would remove Kimmel’s show from its stations.
Shortly after, ABC confirmed to Business Insider that it was pulling Kimmel off the air indefinitely.
Trump appeared to celebrate when Kimmel was pulled off the air.
“Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”
Kimmel has not yet publicly responded to his suspension, and he didn’t respond to multiple Business Insider requests for comment.