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On September 17, 2025, ABC abruptly suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the host’s monologue about the assassination of Charlie Kirk touched off national outrage and prompted major affiliate groups to preempt the show. Station owners Nexstar and Sinclair announced they would stop airing Kimmel’s program, forcing ABC’s hand and leaving the show on indefinite hiatus amid a rapidly escalating controversy.
Watching left-wing media figures scream about free speech while excusing Kimmel’s inflammatory and fact-light commentary has been a master class in hypocrisy. Prominent late-night hosts rallied to Kimmel’s defense, portraying the suspension as a free-speech crisis, even though their industry has long weaponized outrage selectively and celebrated firings when it suits the coastal echo chamber.
What truly exposed the rotten core of the media is the way political leverage and regulatory threats entered the picture. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr publicly pressured broadcasters and warned of consequences for what he called conduct that could jeopardize public-interest obligations, and that pressure played a role in affiliates’ decisions to pull the show. That’s not a simple business choice; it’s the collision of politics, regulation, and media power.
Local station groups made it clear they were responding to public backlash and their own commercial interests, with some demanding apologies and reparations before considering airing Kimmel again. Nexstar and Sinclair have used their leverage — rightly, from a conservative standpoint — to stand up for community standards and to remind network giants that coastal contempt doesn’t get a free pass across Main Street America.
Meanwhile ABC and parent company Disney looked like a massive corporation that folded too quickly, instinctively reaching for damage control instead of defending journalistic or comedic latitude. The swift suspension raised real questions about free expression, corporate cowardice, and whether Big Media will now bend at the first sign of political pressure rather than defend its talent or its viewers.
Conservatives who have watched coastal elites lecture the country for years should not be surprised by this spectacle — but we should be furious about its implications. If networks and regulators can be nudged into taking down a show over a monologue, every conservative commentator, journalist, and artist will face the same threat when they cross the wrong political line. This isn’t theoretical; it’s a preview of how dissent gets disciplined in the new media landscape.
At a time when the left is busy issuing sanctimonious defenses of Kimmel, conservative voices on outlets like Newsmax have rightly pointed out the double standard and laughed off the predictable outrage cycle. The lesson for ordinary Americans and sensible conservatives is simple: hold media accountable, push back against elite excuses, and don’t let the politically well-connected weaponize broadcasting power to silence anyone who won’t salute their narrative.
