John Oliver defended Jimmy Kimmel within the newest episode of HBO's Final Week Tonight, calling his suspension a “clear case of the federal government attempting to censor speech.”
Oliver, 48, urged ABC and mum or dad firm Disney to “stand by Kimmel and his employees” amid what he characterised as politically motivated strain to take Jimmy Kimmel Dwell! off the air.
“There are methods you possibly can encourage them to try this. You can exert strain on them by canceling Disney+ or Hulu. Google searches on which have skyrocketed previously few days,” Oliver added on his present on Sunday, September 21.
ABC introduced on Wednesday, September 17, that Jimmy Kimmel Dwell! could be “pre-empted indefinitely” following criticism over Kimmel's remarks about Charlie Kirk's accused assassin, Tyler Robinson, two days earlier. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang attempting to characterize this child who killed Charlie Kirk as something aside from one in all them,” Kimmel mentioned throughout his monologue.
Federal Communications Fee (FCC) chairman Brendan Carr referred to as for Kimmel to be punished and recommended community station homeowners “push again” towards ABC by saying they wouldn't air Kimmel's program. Two main homeowners of ABC associates across the U.S., Nexstar and Sinclair, confirmed on Wednesday they'd pull Kimmel, prompting ABC's choice to tug this system nationwide.
“ABC and its mum or dad firm, Disney, nonetheless have an opportunity to do the suitable factor right here. I do get that the better path for them proper now's to maintain him off the air and the administration off their again,” Oliver said on Sunday.
“Although, I'll level out, that was the obvious argument for ABC paying Trump $15 million final yr, and the way did that work out for them?” he added, referring to a December 2024 settlement over a defamation lawsuit introduced towards ABC Information by Trump.
Oliver went on to deal with Disney CEO Bob Iger instantly, saying, “Giving the bully your lunch cash doesn't make him go away; it simply makes him come again hungrier every time. They're by no means going to cease.”
“Sooner or later, you're going to should strive to attract a line. Why not draw it proper right here?” he added.
Throughout Sunday's episode, Oliver identified that Nexstar is searching for FCC approval for a proposed $6.2 billion merger with one other media firm, Tegna. “Nexstar badly wants FCC approval, so it's hardly stunning that when Carr particularly mentioned firms ought to pull Kimmel off the air or face penalties, it rapidly complied,” he opined. “Principally, Brendan Carr mentioned, ‘Soar,' and Nexstar took his d**okay out of their mouth simply lengthy sufficient to say, ‘How excessive precisely?'” (Nexstar, for its half, said on Thursday, September 18, “the choice to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Dwell! was made unilaterally by the senior government workforce at Nexstar, and so they had no communication with the FCC or any authorities company prior to creating that call.”)
Many stars have been shocked after information broke that ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel's eponymous discuss present following the host's feedback about Charlie Kirk's dying. An ABC spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 17, that “Jimmy Kimmel Dwell! shall be pre-empted indefinitely.” The information got here within the wake of Kimmel's remarks about Kirk's accused assassin, […]
Oliver additionally defended Kimmel's remarks that apparently led to his suspension. “The purpose is, Kimmel didn't denigrate Charlie Kirk or make gentle of his killing,” he mentioned. “The worst factor you possibly can say is that he seems to have been flawed in regards to the shooter's ideology, which, OK, however he was additionally mentioning that many on the suitable appear determined to weaponize Kirk's dying, an argument that's aged fairly properly given every thing that's occurred to Kimmel since.”
“This Kimmel scenario does really feel like a turning level, and never as a result of comedians are vital, however as a result of we aren't,” Oliver later warned. “If the federal government can power a community to tug a late-night showcase the air and achieve this in plain view, it could do a f**okay of quite a bit worse.”
