‘Censoring you in real time’: suspension of Jimmy Kimmel show sparks shock and fears for free speech

Politicians, media figures and free speech organisations expressed anger and alarm at the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show, warning that critics of Donald Trump were being systematically silenced.

ABC announced it was suspending the programmed indefinitely after comments Kimmel made about Charlie Kirk’s killing led a group of ABC-affiliated stations to say it would not air the show.

On Wednesday evening, California governor Gavin Newsom called the firing of commentators and cancelling of shows “coordinated” and “dangerous.” He went on to say that the Republican party “does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time.”

Democratic senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said “everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what’s happening to Jimmy Kimmel.” His colleague Chris Murphy said it was likely the start of a campaign to “use the murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to use the power of the White House to wipe out Trump’s critics and his political opponents.”

In his monologue on Monday, Kimmel said that “we hit some new lows over the weekend with the Maga gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

On Tuesday he said Trump was “fanning the flames” by attacking people on the left.

ABC, which has aired Kimmel’s late-night show since 2003, moved swiftly after Nextstar Communications Group said it would pull the show, saying Kimmel’s comments about Kirk’s death “were offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse”.

Donald Trump and figures aligned to his Maga movement reacted with glee to the news, with the president calling it “Great News for America”. Trump posted: “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent.”

The president, who is on a state visit to the UK and hours earlier had attended a banquet hosted by King Charles, also appeared to encourage the NBC network to cancel other late night shows, hosted by Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers.

Earlier on Wednesday, the chair of the US media regulator, Brendan Carr, appeared on a rightwing podcast and threatened to take away ABC’s broadcasting license in response to Kimmel’s comments on suspected Charlie Kirk shooter Tyler Robinson.

In the interview with Benny Johnson, Carr suggested suspending Kimmel could be an appropriate action from ABC.

After ABC’s announcement hours later, Johnson boasted online that it was his interview with Carr that had led to Kimmel’s suspension. “It’s called soft power,” he said. “The Left uses it all the time. Thanks to President Trump, the Right has learned how to wield power as well.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression said the timing of ABC’s decision, after the comments from Carr, “tells the whole story”.

“Another media outlet withered under government pressure,” the free speech advocacy group said, adding “we cannot be a country where late night talk show hosts serve at the pleasure of the president. But until institutions grow a backbone and learn to resist government pressure, that is the country we are.”

MSNBC political commentator Chris Hayes called it the most “straightforward attack on free speech from state actors I’ve ever seen in my life”, while Truth Wins Out (TWO), a nonprofit dedicated to exposing extremism said the move was part of a rightwing “Cancel Crusade” that has “weaponised outrage to silence dissent and intimidate media outlets.”

“This is a new McCarthyism that has expanded the boundaries of ‘woke’ to once unimaginable dimensions. It is chilling the free press and punishing truth‑tellers.”

TWO’s statement references the wave of firings that have followed Kirk’s death, with companies sacking employees for making comments that are deemed to be insensitive or divisive.

There have been reports of teachers, firefighters, journalists, nurses, politicians, a Secret Service employee, a junior strategist at Nasdaq and a worker for a prominent NFL team, being sacked or censured in some form after publishing opinions on Kirk’s politics or death.

Efforts to track down, intimidate and harass people perceived not to have sufficiently mourned the killing of the Kirk were endorsed on Monday by JD Vance.

The US vice-president guest-hosted Kirk’s podcast and said that people who “see someone celebrating Charlie’s murder” should “call their employer. We don’t believe in political violence, but we do believe in civility, and there is no civility in the celebration of political assassination.”

Actor Ben Stiller said the decision to suspend Kimmels show “isn’t right”, while democratic politician Ro Khanna said “this is perhaps the first Administration to make comedy illegal.”

Kimmel, like CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, had consistently been critical of Trump and many of his policies on his show and his suspension comes just weeks after rival network CBS said that it was cancelling Stephen Colbert’s show at the end of this season for financial reasons, although some critics have wondered if his stance on Trump played a role.