Authoritarianism in Prime Time: The Silencing of Jimmy Kimmel

Photo via the Hollywood Reporter

***

News broke out on Sept. 17th that Jimmy Kimmel Live! had been suspended indefinitely due to the host’s comments on Sept. 15th and 16th, about Charlie Kirk’s murder. Kimmel’s show has been running since 2003 and is the longest-tenured late-night host since Conan O’Brien’s retirement in 2021. The Kimmel controversy highlights growing concerns about government overreach, media censorship, and whether the United States is drifting towards authoritarianism. 

What Happened? 

During his Monday evening monologue, Kimmel suggested that Charlie Kirk’s killer, Tyler Robinson, was a pro-trump Republican: “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.” Additionally, during his Tuesday evening monologue, he accused the Trump Administration of using Kirk’s death for their own political agenda, stating that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.”

Kimmel’s comments were met with widespread backlash. One critic was the president of Nexstar Media Group’s broadcasting division, Andrew Alford. He felt that Kimmel’s comments were offensive and insensitive, especially in the country’s fragile political climate. Nexstar owns and operates about 23 ABC affiliates, including stations in Nashville, Salt Lake City, and New Orleans. Nexstar decided to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their broadcasts starting Sept. 17th. Sinclair, another ABC affiliate, preempted the show before ABC decided to suspend it. 

Political figures soon joined in the backlash. President Donald Trump went on Truth Social to congratulate ABC for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done.” President Trump has had a longstanding feud with Jimmy Kimmel since 2015, when he canceled on Kimmel’s talk show during his first presidential campaign. Trump’s team did not provide Kimmel with a clear explanation for the cancellation, only stating Trump had a “major political commitment.” Since Trump’s elections in 2016 and 2024, Kimmel has criticized the Trump Administration and Trump’s personal character on his show multiple times. 

Additionally, Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) went on a podcast called The Benny Show, hosted by right-wing conservative Benny Johnson, calling Kimmel’s comments “truly sick.” He stated that the FCC has a strong case for holding ABC and Walt-Disney Co., ABC’s parent company, responsible for spreading misinformation. Carr went on to talk about how the FCC has an obligation to act within public interest and that broadcasting Kimmel’s show does not fall within this realm. 

Anna Gomez, the FCC Commissioner and only Democrat on the commission, disagreed with Chairman Carr saying “The FCC is weaponizing its licensing authority in order to bring broadcasters to heel.” Ari Cohn, Lead Counsel for tech policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, echoed similar concerns: “Another media outlet withered under government pressure, ensuring that the administration will continue to extort and exact retribution on broadcasters and publishers who criticize it.” After facing pressure and threats from the FCC, ABC pushed to pull Kimmel off the air. 

The Role of the FCC and Broadcast Regulation

The FCC was established under the Communications Act of 1934, authorizing it to give broadcasting licenses to broadcasters that follow “public interest, convenience, and necessity.” Companies that are licensed by the FCC have the duty to air programs that are responsive to the local communities wants and needs. 

The First Amendment allows the FCC to regulate certain aspects of broadcasting, but many agree that pushing a late-night show off the air by persuading private company ownership to punish speech, does not fall within those regulations. Some experts, like Ronnie London, General Counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, have called the FCC’s behavior unconstitutional, pointing out a 2024 Supreme Court decision: National Rifle Association v. Vullo. In the decision, the justices unanimously ruled New York regulatory attempts to curb company business with the NRA amounted to coercion, using threat of regulatory consequences to intimidate private entities into silencing disfavored speech, ultimately violating the First Amendment. London and others argue the FCC is doing the same by leveraging licensing authoring to pressure broadcasters to pull dissenting voices like Kimmel off of the air.

Both Disney and Nexstar have businesses with the FCC to attend to. Disney is seeking approval from the FCC to approve another one of their subsidiaries, ESPN, to acquire the NFL network. Disney only finalized Kimmel’s suspension of production until after Brendan Carr’s comments on The Benny Show were aired. 

Nexstar has been in the process of acquiring Tegna since the deal was announced on August 19, 2025, but it is pending government approval from the FCC. Under the $6.2 billion merger, Nexstar will purchase all 64 broadcast stations of Tegna and introduce them into their portfolio of stations. However, there are considerable problems with this merger as the FCC has a rule about how wide a scope local broadcasters are allowed to hold, and the scope would be exceeded by Nexstar if Tegna is acquired. Carr has been vocal about his disapproval, calling it “arcane” and “artificial.” But can the FCC change its regulations without Congress approval? Regardless of the answer, Nexstar is banking on the approval of the Trump Administration to push its deal through. 

Many wonder if these high-stakes FCC battles may explain why late-night hosts are suddenly being sidelined. The Late Show with Stephan Colbert was told by CBS that it will be ending in May 2026 due to financial reasons, but many speculate its cancellation is due to his relentless criticism of Trump. After his cancellation announcement, the FCC approved Paramount’s, CBS’s parent company, long pending deal with Skydance. Like Colbert, Trump openly targets Kimmel, and Disney faces sensitive FCC approvals, the timing of Kimmel’s suspension looks far from coincidental. The message is evident, outspoken critics of Trump’s administration faced professional risk. 

Kimmel’s Back, But Not Everywhere 

On Monday, September 22nd, 2025, Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return to the air on Tuesday, September 23rd. At first, major stations like Nexstar and Sinclair, which own about one-fifth of ABC affiliates nationwide, kept the show off of the air, blocking thousands of Americans from viewing at home. Sinclair replaced Kimmel with news programming, and Nexstar said it stood by “that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets [they] serve.” However, mounting public pressure appeared to influence both broadcasters because they backtracked their decision to preempt Kimmel, announcing on Friday, September 26th that it will resume airing Kimmel. The reversal came four days after ABC reinstated the show. On its Tuesday return, Kimmel received 6.26 million views, four times his usual audience. 

In general, Kimmel’s suspension sparked protests throughout the entire country, specifically the entertainment industry. Organized protests formed outside of Disney offices in both New York City and Burbank, California, as well as the theater where Kimmel’s show is recorded in Hollywood. A-list stars like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, and Jennifer Aniston signed letters organized by the American Civil Liberties Union in support of Kimmel. Democratic Party leaders like California Governor Gavin Newsom and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer  logged into X to support Kimmel’s return. 

Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension is just one example of a broader authoritarian trend. From silencing late-show hosts to banning books in schools, the effort to control what Americans see, read, and think is growing.

Other examples of censorship in the United States

A PEN America study reported that the 2024 to 2025 school year saw more than 10,000 instances of book banning in public schools. Of the 4,218 titles pulled from classrooms, over ⅓ of featured people of color and ¼ featured LGBTQ+ characters. Conservative lawmakers insist that the bans are about shielding children from sexual content, but only 13% of the banned titles contained explicit depictions, exposing this claim as a political cover. Book bans and media crackdowns share the same logic because they suppress voices that challenge the dominant political narrative. 

Combined with Trump’s pushback on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the bans reveal a government crackdown that silences marginalized groups. Trump sends a message loud and clear with his censorship of the media: those who challenge his administration or its worldview will be muted, succumbing our individual rights into a tool of political control. 

Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension is, thus, not an isolated incident, but symptoms of the coordinated erosion of free speech in the United States. The FCC targeting broadcasters, Trump calling out comedians on social media, or Republicans systematically removing diverse classrooms reflect the same pattern: the government’s punishment of dissent and the consequent disintegration of public discourse. The stakes are more than just your favorite talk-show host or book, but the loss of American voices and their right to speak, to write, and to question the government that serves us.

***

This article was edited by Fatimah Waqas and Angelina Bland.