The hosts of “The View” wasted no time in discussing fellow ABC host Jimmy Kimmel’s return from suspension this week, applauding the late night host for “perfectly” handling the situation in his Tuesday monologue.
“He hit everything perfectly,” host Sara Haines said on Wednesday morning. “I think he touched on the most important parts, like the protection of freedom of speech, but he also so emotionally recognized that his intention was never to mock a murder.”
“And I think that’s where comedians are unique,” she continued. “You really have to think about the person you’re criticizing, because oftentimes comedians are here to remind us that, ‘We need to hold governments accountable. We need to be able to be equal-opportunity offenders. We’re trying to make people laugh.’ He was so clear on that, but I love that he really took time to say, ‘Thank you to those people who disagree with me,’ because they deserve credit for speaking up in a moment that it was so crucial.”
Meanwhile, host Alyssa Farah Griffin praised Kimmel for making the show “bigger than himself.” The line in his monologue that she latched onto was Kimmel noting that “the show is not important. What is important is that we live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
“He talked about his staff of 200 people multiple times, fellow late night hosts who have come under threat,” Farah Griffin said. “He talked about these damning reports that the Pentagon is cracking down on free speech. He’s talking about something so much bigger than this particular drama, and I thought that that was big of him to realize that he’s a symbol of a struggle that’s going on, but speak to the broader moment.”
For her part, host Joy Behar once again stressed the importance of comedians, pointing out dictators and autocrats in history who also immediately targeted comedians who mocked them.
“It’s interesting, because they call themselves strong men, but they actually are very weak men because they can’t take a joke,” Behar said.
“The thing is, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a comedian or just a regular old person who goes about their day, you have every right,” moderator Whoopi Goldberg said to conclude the discussion. “It’s your birthright as an American, if you’re not happy with what’s going on, you’re allowed to say it.”
You can watch the full discussion from “The View” in the video above.
