ABC‘s decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its network indefinitely sent shockwaves through the media industry and political world, with commentators criticizing the decision as an act of censorship.
Disney’s ABC decided to take its flagship late-night program off the schedule “indefinitely” after Nexstar Media, one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the U.S., vowed to pre-empt airings of the program after “strongly objecting” to Kimmel’s comments on Kirk.
“This isn’t right,” wrote Ben Stiller.
MSNBC host Chris Hayes said, “This is the most straightforward attack on free speech from state actors I’ve ever seen in my life and it’s not even close.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom accused the Republican Party of not believing in free speech, saying “they are censoring you in real time.”
Kimmel became embroiled in criticism from conservative commentators for his monologue on Monday’s broadcast, in which he made comments on Kirk’s suspected shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson from Utah, and that the “MAGA gang” was “trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
In the hours prior to ABC and Nexstar’s decision to take Kimmel off the air, Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr threatened to take action against ABC. Once Kimmel was pulled, Carr released a statement on social media, thanking Nexstar for “doing the right thing”: “Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest. 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.”
See more notable reactions to the Kimmel news below.