America’s late-night talk show hosts rallied Thursday to support Jimmy Kimmel after his suspension — and accused President Donald Trump of sliding into authoritarianism.
TV network ABC yanked Kimmel off air after comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk that appeared to associate his alleged assassin with the MAGA movement triggered a backlash from Trump allies.
Stephen Colbert — whose own program on CBS was canceled after he criticized the network’s decision to pay Trump millions to settle a lawsuit — used his opening monologue to slam the Trump administration and ABC for “blatant censorship.”
“With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch,” Colbert said. “If ABC thinks that this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive.”
Colbert was joined by Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” who mockingly played the role of a grovelling propagandist in a dictatorship.
In front of a fake gold backdrop, a jab at Trump’s redesign of the White House, Stewart informed viewers the episode would be “another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show.”
His guest was Maria Ressa, author of the book “How To Stand Up To A Dictator: The Fight for Our Future.”
Over at “The Tonight Show” on NBC, Jimmy Fallon called Kimmel “a decent, funny and loving guy” and called for his reinstatement.
Fallon reassured viewers he would not be “censored” and launched into a commentary about Trump’s visit this week to the U.K. — before he was quickly drowned out by a satirical voiceover saying the president was “incredibly handsome” and “restoring our national reputation.”
Disney-owned ABC announced Wednesday it was indefinitely pausing Kimmel’s late-night talk show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” caving to pressure from Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission.
Carr had urged ABC and local broadcasters earlier that day “to take action” against Kimmel, calling the comedian’s comments “truly sick” and warning, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Top Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, have called for the FCC chair’s resignation.
Asked about the Kimmel decision, Trump told reporters Thursday the talk show host had “said a horrible thing” about Kirk and “had very bad ratings.”
“They should have fired him a long time ago,” he added. “So, you know, you could call that free speech or not.”
Kimmel’s indefinite suspension earned a rebuke from another titan of late-night television: David Letterman.
“It’s ridiculous. You can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian, a criminal administration in the Oval Office,” Letterman said at The Atlantic Festival on Thursday. “That’s just not how this works.”
The 78-year-old comedian added he had been in touch with Kimmel, who was “going to be fine.”
Former President Barack Obama also weighed in, writing on X that the Trump administration had taken cancel culture “to a new and dangerous level” and was using the threat of regulatory crackdowns to “muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.”
Bill Simmons, the godfather of American sports podcasting and a longtime friend of Kimmel, used his show to decry Disney and ABC executives for caving in to government pressure and “censorship.”
“At some point you’ve got to stand for something,” Simmons said.
Seth Meyers on NBC opened his talk show Thursday with a warning of his own: Trump’s administration was “pursuing a crackdown on free speech.”
“And completely unrelated, I just wanted to say that I have always admired and respected Mr. Trump,” he snarked.
Ali Walker contributed to this report
