On Wednesday, ABC announced it was suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live indefinitely. The reason? A comment Kimmel made during a monologue about the political reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death.
Predictably, some Republican voices were thrilled. They framed the suspension as a win against “cancel culture.” One post on X read, “Kimmel can say what he wants, just not on ABC.” But that misses the bigger issue entirely.
Jimmy Kimmel does have Free Speech, he is free to speak just not on ABC
— Terrence K. Williams (@w_terrence) September 18, 2025
This wasn’t just a network decision. It was the result of a direct threat from Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed Chair of the FCC. He used his position to pressure Disney and its affiliates by targeting the licenses of the local TV stations that carry ABC content.
Carr has used this tactic before. He recently applied similar pressure to Paramount. It’s a calculated strategy. When government officials start using regulatory power to silence comedians, we’re no longer talking about cancel culture. We’re talking about censorship.
What Kimmel Actually Said
On Monday night, he took aim at right-wing figures for how they reacted to Kirk’s death. He joked that the MAGA crowd was trying to paint the accused killer as someone outside their camp. Then he played a clip of Trump bragging about a new White House ballroom during his remarks on Kirk. Kimmel quipped that Trump had entered the “fourth stage of grief: construction.”
That was it. A monologue. A joke. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff. But Carr claimed the segment crossed a line, saying it suggested Tyler Robinson, the man charged with killing Kirk, was part of the MAGA movement. At the time, details were still unclear. The indictment said Robinson believed Kirk was spreading hate—but that wasn’t evidence of political affiliation, just speculation.
Carr didn’t hold back during a follow-up interview with Benny Johnson, labeling Kimmel’s comments “sick” and claiming they could have legal consequences. He reminded viewers that broadcasters need an FCC license and then issued a clear warning: networks could either handle this “the easy way or the hard way.”
Carr explained that most broadcast licenses are held by individual local stations, not Disney or ABC itself. These stations air ABC content but bear the risk of FCC enforcement. He suggested they stop airing Kimmel’s show altogether or face fines or license revocation—an unmistakable threat.
Historical Context
The FCC has never treated “partisan programming” as a violation of public interest. If it did, Fox News would’ve been off the air long ago. Carr cited rules against “news distortion” and “broadcast hoaxes,” but Kimmel is a late-night comedian, not a news anchor. None of these claims meet the high bar for pulling a license. Historically, it takes extreme misconduct—like the 1989 revocation of a Mississippi station for promoting segregation—for the FCC to act.
Some liberal critics have urged action against right-wing media, but the FCC never pulled a license. In fact, Carr himself once opposed restricting e-cigarette ads, arguing the FCC shouldn’t police speech.
Corporate Compliance
Major station owners got the message. Nexstar, which owns around 200 stations, quickly dropped Kimmel’s show. So did Sinclair Broadcast Group. They have their own business interests—Nexstar is pursuing a $6.2 billion merger that has expressed hope of FCC approval, so keeping Carr happy makes financial sense.
Carr has shown this pattern before: he slow-walked a Paramount merger until CBS, a subsidiary, agreed to pay $16 million to resolve a baseless lawsuit linked to Trump. That deal proceeded after Skydance agreed to promote political “diversity” and hire an ombudsman. Soon after, CBS called the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show financial—a move Carr praised.
Disney Bows to Pressure
Under heavy pressure from Nexstar and Sinclair, Disney pulled Kimmel off the air. But Rolling Stone reports insiders believed Kimmel hadn’t crossed any line—they were just terrified of Trump administration retaliation. One executive said they were “pissing themselves” over potential fallout.
Disney has more at stake than broadcast licenses: it’s negotiating a high-stakes deal with the NFL crucial to ESPN’s future, requiring regulatory approval from the Department of Justice. Trump even incidentally told an ABC journalist the DOJ might investigate ABC for “hate” offenses after Kirk’s death.
Conclusion: Censorship by Government
The First Amendment protects against government interference in speech. Carr can call Kimmel’s jokes tasteless, but he can’t threaten to punish broadcasters for airing them. That’s coercion, not oversight. In NRA v. Vullo, the Supreme Court ruled government officials can’t use legal threats to suppress speech—even through third parties.
Carr’s threats clearly violate that principle. Disney could have pushed back—publicly or legally—but chose safety. This wasn’t cancel culture. It was state censorship. Carr celebrated on X, thanking Nexstar and crowing that he “ended Jimmy Kimmel’s career.”
Will Kimmel return? It’s too soon to tell. But the message is clear: free speech isn’t safe when the government decides your jokes are a problem.
