Trump Warns Broadcast Licenses Are At Risk Over Negative Coverage After ABC Pulls ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ Off The Air
The fallout continued Thursday across media and politics after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show “indefinitely.” It followed backlash to comments Kimmel made in a monologue Monday about the motives of the man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The decision by Disney, ABC’s parent company, to pull him off the air came hours after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr called Kimmel’s words “truly sick” — noting they “can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Following the Kimmel move, Carr said Thursday that “we’re not done” seeing changes to the media ecosystem during Trump’s second term.
Trump added Thursday evening that federal regulators should revoke broadcast licenses if late-night hosts speak negatively about him, calling the networks “an arm of the Democrat party.”
REWIND: WHAT DID KIMMEL SAY?
During his opening monologue for Monday night’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel suggested that Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk’s shooting last week at a Utah university, could be aligned with President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA Gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
Reality check: Law enforcement and family members have said evidence so far shows that Robinson held left-wing views that motivated the killing of Kirk.
Amid backlash, Kimmel was reportedly planning a response on his show Wednesday night, after ABC executives raised concerns. A source at Jimmy Kimmel Live! told the Hollywood Reporter that Kimmel was not planning an apology — he was “defending what he said (as) being grossly mischaracterized by a certain group of people” — which did not satisfy some higher-ups.
FOLLOW THE MONEY
FCC Chair Brendan Carr told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson earlier Wednesday that the agency could take action against Kimmel. He warned ABC it could “do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Following Carr’s remarks, Nexstar Media Group, which owns and operates several dozen local ABC affiliate stations, said it wouldn't carry the show “for the foreseeable future.” Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates dozens more ABC affiliates, followed suit. Other media groups were reportedly also threatening to go black during Kimmel’s time slot.
That pushed senior leadership at ABC’s parent company, Disney — including CEO Bob Iger — to make the decision to pull Kimmel off ABC airwaves indefinitely. Disney made the decision pre-emptively, before any punishment could take place from the FCC. A source also told the Hollywood Reporter that Disney employees were receiving death threats over the issue and that advertisers were raising concerns.
Follow The Money: Notably, Nexstar is seeking FCC approval for its $6.2 billion acquisition of broadcaster Tegna. Disney is also seeking the Trump administration’s approval on ESPN’s deal to buy the NFL Network.
On this weekend’s Ask Mo Anything (#AMA) podcast — available to Premium subscribers — Mosh goes deep on the money influencing these decisions. Join Mo News Premium to listen to the podcast, out each Saturday.
THE WORLD REACTS
Kimmel’s abrupt removal from the air prompted both praise and outrage, with reactions forming along predictable partisan lines.
On the right: President Trump and MAGA conservatives praised ABC for taking Kimmel off the air.
Trump, speaking in the United Kingdom on Thursday, said Kimmel was talentless, had bad ratings, and "said a horrible thing” about Kirk.
Kimmel’s ratings were indeed sinking before being pulled off ABC, dropping to just 1.1 million viewers in August (down more than 40% since January).
Mark R. Levin, a conservative commentator, said Kimmel “should’ve been canned a long time ago,” while Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, called Kimmel’s cancellation a consequence for his actions and not an example of cancel culture.
On the left: Democrats condemned Disney and ABC’s move as a politically charged attack on free speech.
In the entertainment industry, stars like Ben Stiller, Henry Winkler, and Kathy Griffin expressed concern.
David Letterman, legendary comedian and original host of The Late Show, said at The Atlantic festival, “You can’t fire somebody because you’re trying to suck up to an authoritarian, criminal administration.”
Outside Hollywood, former President Barack Obama said the Trump administration is “routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.”
California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced Thursday that they were launching an investigation into the Trump administration, ABC, and Sinclair amid Kimmel’s firing.
WHAT’S NEXT?
In his Truth Social post on Wednesday night praising ABC’s decision, Trump compared Kimmel’s removal to CBS cancelling The Late Show With Stephen Colbert earlier this year. “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC,” Trump wrote.
Meanwhile, Carr told CNBC’s Squawk on the Street on Thursday that we are likely to see more changes made to the media ecosystem during Trump’s second term.