Jimmy Kimmel can count the former Vice President among his supporters.
On Thursday, 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris condemned ABC’s suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” as part of “an outright abuse of power, and called out media companies for “capitulating” even as Trump “is attacking critics and using fear as a weapon.”
“What we are witnessing is an outright abuse of power,” Harris posted on social platforms. “This administration is attacking critics and using fear as a weapon to silence anyone who would speak out. Media corporations — from television networks to newspapers — are capitulating to these threats. We cannot dare to be silent or complacent in the face of this frontal assault on free speech. We, the People, deserve better.”
The post comes one day after “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was “pre-empted indefinitely” by ABC and their station partners — the result of comments Kimmel made during a Monday monologue about the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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,” Kimmel said on Monday.
It’s worth noting that Kimmel’s assumption on Monday, that Robinson was part of the political right, was based on all available evidence that was public at the time. On Tuesday, more details were made public that established pretty clearly that Robinson didn’t hold right wing politics, may be at least somewhat left wing, and was apparently motivated by personal concerns. Many questions remain unanswered, however.
That context was ignored by conservative critics, including FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who threatened ABC during a podcast appearance. Soon after Nexstar — which owns more than 30 ABC affiliates across the country — announced it would preempt Kimmel on all stations. Sinclair followed soon after.
Nexstar recently bid to merge with Tegna, another station group and direct Nexstar competitor. This merger is currently pending approval from Carr — though Nexstar denied this being a factor in their decision. It’s a similar situation as the one Paramount found themselves in when “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” was cancelled soon after he claimed his parent company gave the Trump administration “a big fat bribe.”
“I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next,” Trump said at the time.
Rather than make the story go away, the suspension only emboldened critics, including Sinclair, which declared after Kimmel was suspended that this wasn’t enough. The company, which owns hundreds of TV stations around the country, demanded among other things that Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family, and give them a significant personal donation, and one to Kirk’s conservative active organization Turning Point USA.
It must be noted here that Kimmel has never actually said anything negative about Kirk’s family and he has consistently condemned Kirk’s killing.
Harris is far from the only one to speak up in Kimmel’s favor following the suspension. Politicians, celebrities, media personalities and audiences all flocked to social media to defend Kimmel and denounced what they see as an attack on free speech. Members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA gathered outside Disney in Burbank on Thursday in protest of the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” company.
Kimmel’s ally and fellow late night host Jon Stewart announced that he would have a special broadcast Thursday night. Though he played coy on the details, it’s safe to assume what he’ll be talking about.
ABC has confirmed to TheWrap that Kimmel’s suspension is not permanent.
