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ABC’s parent company pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program off the air this week, an unprecedented move that followed a firestorm over Kimmel’s on-air commentary about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The suspension came after major ABC affiliates announced they would stop airing the show, forcing the network’s hand in what quickly became a corporate crisis.
Nexstar and Sinclair led the charge, publicly refusing to carry Kimmel’s program on dozens of local stations while the FCC chair weighed in with blistering public criticism. That combination of affiliate defiance and federal pressure left ABC with little choice but to act, exposing how fragile the old media’s control really is when its distribution partners walk away.
What set off the outrage was Kimmel’s decision to politicize a raw tragedy, using his monologue to suggest the alleged killer’s motives and to attack an entire movement in the same breath. Media figures have every right to editorialize, but turning a funeral into a political play and implying partisan guilt without evidence is not journalism — it is cheap, tribal theater.
Meanwhile, the left’s predictable chorus of indignation and the Hollywood crowd’s performative grief only highlighted the double standard that now defines our cultural institutions. Hundreds of protesters—some organized by industry unions—descended on Disney headquarters to denounce the suspension, proving once again that outrage is a currency in Tinseltown while accountability is a foreign concept.
President Trump and conservative leaders cheered the network’s move, calling it long overdue and pointing out that networks cannot be allowed to weaponize cable and network platforms against their own audiences. That reaction reflects a broader popular frustration: Americans are tired of being lectured by elites who then shrug off the predictable consequences when their talking heads go too far.
Make no mistake: this episode is not simply about one comic’s misstep. It is a symptom of media institutions that have lost credibility by blurring the line between opinion and responsible reporting, then demanding immunity when the public pushes back. The affiliates did what markets should do — they put viewers and standards first, and conservatives should applaud the accountability that corporate HQs have often refused to deliver.
At the same time, conservatives must keep a careful eye on the FCC’s newfound activism and on any temptation to weaponize regulation for partisan ends. We defend free expression, but we also support consequences when media figures exploit tragedies for political advantage; what we cannot accept is a federal agency picking winners and losers in the marketplace of ideas. If Americans want trustworthy media, they should keep using their feet and their remotes to punish rank partisanship masquerading as news.
