Washington/Los Angeles:
Walt Disney-owned ABC said Wednesday that it pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live” out of the air after comments from the late evening show host about the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk got a threat from the leader of the top US communication regulator against Disney.
President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly pushed the TV stations to stop broadcasting content he has found critically, celebrated the news in a social media post. A number of democratic lawmakers attacked the decision and said that freedom of expression was under attack.
The suspension of Kimmel’s show marked the latest action taken against media figures, academic workers, teachers and business employees over their comments about Kirk after his assault.
Republican leaders and conservative commentators have warned Americans to mourn over Kirk respectfully or suffer consequences, and some people have been fired or suspended after discussing the killing online.
Kimmel, who has often targeted Trump on his late evening comedy show, aroused fire for remarks he made about the killing of his monologue on Monday. “We hit some new low low over the weekend, with the Maga band desperately tried to characterize this child who murdered Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them, and does everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
Kirk, a 31-year-old activist and Trump-World celebrity known for his right-wing views and Pugnacious debate style, was shot at the neck while talking at an Utah University a week ago. A 22-year-old suspect is charged with his murder and his exact motive remains unclear.
Kimel’s comments led to a response from the Federal Communications Commission -President Brendan Carr, who urged local TV stations to stop broadcasting “Jimmy Kimmel Live” at ABC. Carr suggested that the Commission could open an investigation and that TV companies could potentially fined or lose their licenses if there was a pattern of distorted comment.
“This is a very, very serious problem right now for Disney. We can do this in the light way or the hard way,” Carr said in a podcast interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson, who was sent on Wednesday.
“Disney has to see some changes here, but the individual licensed stations that take their content, it is time for them to step up and say this, you know, waste to the extent that this is what comes down in the pipe in the future is not something we think our local society’s needs serve.”
After Carr spoke, Nexstar Media Group NXST.O said it would stop posting the show on its 32 ABC associated companies, citing Kimmel’s comments. NEXSTAR, who needs the FCC approval of its $ 6.2 billion agreement to acquire less rival signs tgga.n, withdrew praise from Carr, who thanked Nexstar for “doing the right thing.”
Shortly after Nexstar announced his decision, ABC, which has FCC-approved licenses for the local TV associated companies, as it owner, also said Kimmel would be withdrawn from the air.
“‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ will be exempted indefinitely,” a spokesman for ABC said without elaborating.
Sinclair, the country’s largest ABC -affected group, then said it would not broadcast Kimmel’s show, even if ABC decides to bring it back unless “appropriate step” was taken. Sinclair urged Kimmel to apologize and said it would send out a tribute to Kirk in Kimmel’s Time Castle on Friday.
Kimmel, who was seen Wednesday, leaving El Capitan Theater, where his show is taped, did not respond to a request for comment.
As the TV stations took action, Trump welcomes the news in a post about truth, while also calling for Comcast-owned CMCSA.O NBC to shoot Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, the hosts of comedy comedy comedy on the network, often making jokes at Trump’s expense.
“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what needed to be done,” Trump said.
Democrats, on his part, criticized the removal of kimmel from the air, where Senator Ed Markey calls it “censorship in action.”
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, FCC’s only democratic member, said US free-speech laws should prevent FCC from telling TV companies what they can broadcast.
“This administration is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress legal expression,” she told CNN.
Trump has repeatedly sued, calculated and threatened media companies whose cover he disputes with legal or other action.
This week, Trump filed a $ 15 billion trial against the New York Times and book publisher Penguin Random House and accused them of treating him unfairly.
CBS-Parent Paramount paid $ 16 million in July to resolve a civil case over what Trump claimed was the network’s misleading editing of an interview with presidential candidate Kamala Harris. In December, ABC paid $ 15 million to run a defamation direction filed by Trump over the anchor George Stephanopoulos’ on-air description of the president’s behavior in the E. Jean Carroll case.
After Kirk’s killing, political analyst Matthew Dowd was fired from MSNBC after describing the activist as a “divisive” figure spreading “hate number” and adding “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then leads to hateful actions.”
MSNBC President Rebecca Kutler issued a statement that apologized for DOWD’s comments that she said were “inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable.”
Washington Post -Paltist Karen Attiah said on Monday she was fired by the newspaper over a number of social media posts she made after the killing of Kirk, including one where she noticed Kirk’s previous comments on black women. The post has said it does not comment on staff questions and the newspaper’s union condemned the firing.
