“This show is not important, what’s important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.” Kimmel expressed his gratitude to return to stage, days after he thought his career had ended.
Jimmy Kimmel is most famous for his talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! which debuted in 2003. Since then, he has established himself as a competitive comedian and host among the many talented stars of Los Angeles and New York. However, Kimmel was recently taken off the air “indefinitely” following his sensitive political statements.
Talk shows have always been an important source of political commentary throughout history. They hold our leaders accountable and make light of otherwise bleak situations. Historically, many U.S. presidents have acknowledged their importance and even recall their humor fondly. However there have been cases where presidents have condemned comments that they believe crossed a line. President Trump has publicly expressed his distaste for the jokes made about him, including those in the most recent South Park season, and repeatedly criticized Saturday Night Live for their response to his actions.
Kimmel’s temporary removal from air came after the death of media personality Charlie Kirk. Kirk was known for co-founding a conservative organization, Turning Point USA, and for debating controversial topics, such as abortion and gun laws, with progressive activists. Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10, which triggered massive conversation on both sides of the political spectrum. The difference of opinions surrounding Kirk’s death led to conservatives and liberals alike agreeing that it drove the wedge dividing our country deeper.
President Trump began to call for the removal of those who criticized Kirk from their jobs, and for many educators, this became their reality. Employers are now allowed to fire those who go against their company’s values on social media. However, there is a fine line between respecting this rule and hindering free speech. This is the basis behind the controversy among Kimmel’s viewers and the rest of the U.S. when Kimmel was pulled from the air. Trump claimed that Kimmel was pulled due to a “lack of talent” and “bad ratings.” Others have attributed Kimmel’s removal from the air to the remarks he made regarding Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel did criticize those who celebrated Kirk’s death, calling it a “senseless murder,” but also went on to call out the response of the Republican party. Kimmel stated, “The MAGA Gang [is] 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.” It was later found that the murderer of Kirk was not affiliated with any political party. Kimmel criticized Trump’s reaction to the unfortunate event, and in doing so, subjected himself to Trump’s retaliation: taking him off the air.
A similar situation happened to talk show host Stephen Colbert when his show was canceled due to financial reasons, which some fans believe was due to Colbert’s history of making light of Trump. However, Kimmel was more fortunate than Colbert. Six days after being suspended, Disney reinstated Kimmel’s show. Disney acknowledged that Kimmel’s comments were ill-timed, but that ultimately removing him would infringe on his freedom of speech.
However, when Kimmel returned, he didn’t air in every house across the United States. Media group Nexstar refused to air Kimmel’s show and continues to stand by that decision. Because of this, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is not able to air in 23% of American households, causing some to watch on other platforms like Youtube.
Despite this division, Kimmel’s first show back on the air drew around 6.3 million viewers, a 343% increase from his average 1.4 million viewers. In Kimmel’s first monologue back, he addressed the situation, and reiterated that, “it was never [his] intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t, I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.” Despite his apology, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) remains attentive to Kimmel.
This incident with Kimmel comes amidst many other changes in rules regarding the media and their rights. The Pentagon recently enforced a new rule detailing specific information that the press can report on. Reporters in the Pentagon must now sign a document stating they will not release any information that is not approved by the government, both classified and unclassified. Reporters also need an escort to move about the Pentagon. These new rules have caused alarm among the press community.
Rules regarding the media are constantly changing, but for now, Jimmy Kimmel is live.
