Jimmy Kimmel was the talk of late-night television on Thursday, September 18, despite his own show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, being taken off the air by ABC earlier this week.
ABC pulled the talk show from its schedules on Wednesday, September 17, after criticism over Kimmel’s comments about the death of conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk. “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly on Wednesday.
Kimmel, 57, prompted a strong rebuke from President Donald Trump administration member Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Two major ABC affiliate owners — Nexstar and Sinclair — pulled the show in major markets around the U.S., prompting ABC’s nationwide suspension.
On Thursday, Kimmel’s late night comrades weighed in on the show’s indefinite hiatus and expressed their support for Kimmel.
Read on for reactions from Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and more:
Jimmy Fallon
The Tonight Show host addressed the situation on Thursday’s episode, saying, “Well guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking WTF.”
“This morning, I woke up to 100 text messages from my dad saying, ‘I’m sorry they canceled your show.’ I go, ‘That’s not me, that’s Jimmy Kimmel.’ But to be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on and no one does, but I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, loving and funny guy, and I hope he comes back,” Fallon said.
Fallon promised to keep covering the news — including the Trump administration — “like I normally would,” despite people worrying that the show would “be censored.”
Stephen Colbert
Over on The Late Show, Colbert — whose own show was canceled by CBS in July — opened Thursday’s episode poignantly saying, “I’m your host, Stephen Colbert. But tonight, we are all Jimmy Kimmel.”
Colbert accused ABC of capitulating to pressure from Carr, the chairman of the FCC, and said, “If ABC thinks that this is gonna satisfy the regime, they’re woefully naive. This is blatant censorship. … With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch. Jimmy, I stand with you and your staff 100 percent.”
Seth Meyers
“It is a privilege and an honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend, in the same way that it’s a privilege and honor to do this show every night,” Late Night host Seth Meyers said during Thursday’s “A Closer Look” segment. “I wake up every day and I count my blessings that I live in a country that at least purports to value freedom of speech.”
“We must all stand up for the principles of free expression,” he added, describing ABC’s decision as a “piviotal moment in our democracy.”
He continued, “There is a reason free speech is in the very first amendment. It stands above all others.”
As for Late Night, Meyers vowed “to keep doing our show the way we’ve always done it, with enthusiasm and integrity.”
Jon Stewart
Thursday’s The Daily Show on Comedy Central opened with an announcer declaring Stewart was now a “patriotically obedient” host on a “government-approved” show.
Stewart pretended to toe the line as he covered Trump’s trip to the U.K. this week, avoiding any criticism of the president.
“We have another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show,” he began the broadcast.
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