ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely after the host's comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk led a group of affiliate stations to refuse to air the programme. The move has sparked widespread condemnation from politicians, media figures and free speech organisations, who warn that critics of Donald Trump are being systematically silenced.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, defended the decision on Fox News, calling the action by station owners Nexstar and Sinclair 'unprecedented'. Carr accused late-night hosts like Kimmel of becoming 'court clerics enforcing a very narrow political ideology'. Sinclair indicated Kimmel could return if he issued a 'direct apology to the Kirk family' and made a 'meaningful personal donation' to the Kirk family and Turning Point USA.
Democratic FCC commissioner Anna Gomez criticised Carr's remarks, stating that 'an inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship or control'. She added that the administration is 'increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression'.
Former president Barack Obama called the suspension a 'new and dangerous level' of government coercion, urging media companies to 'start standing up rather than capitulating'. California Governor Gavin Newsom described the move as 'coordinated' and 'dangerous', accusing the Republican party of 'censoring you in real time'. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said 'what is at stake here is free speech'.
The Writers Guild of America condemned the decision as a violation of constitutional free speech rights, while the Producers Guild of America said 'free speech is fundamental to our democracy'. Actor Ben Stiller called the suspension 'not right', and comedian Wanda Sykes said Trump 'did end freedom of speech' within his first week.
