Jimmy Kimmel’s present is gone. So is Stephen Colbert’s. And if President Trump has his means, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon can be subsequent.
Within the MAGA institution’s ongoing censorship marketing campaign in opposition to Trump’s critics, “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!” grew to become its newest sufferer when ABC introduced Wednesday that it was pulling the present “indefinitely.” The community’s abrupt announcement adopted an outcry from Trump’s supporters that the present’s host — a longtime critic of the president — had inaccurately described the doable political motivations of the suspect, Tyler Robinson, in final week’s killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
The community’s announcement got here hours after Brendan Carr, the Trump-nominated chairman of the Federal Communications Fee, focused Kimmel on a right-wing podcast and advised the FCC might take motion in opposition to ABC due to remarks made by the host. He mentioned Kimmel’s feedback had been a part of a “concerted effort to misinform the American folks,” and that the FCC was “going to have cures that we will have a look at.”
“Frankly, while you see stuff like this — I imply, we will do that the simple means or the laborious means,” he advised the podcast’s host, Benny Johnson. “These corporations can discover methods to alter conduct and take motion, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be further work for the FCC forward.”
The alleged lies cited by Kimmel in his Monday evening monologue? That MAGA was making an attempt to color Robinson as “something aside from one among them.”
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately making an attempt to characterize this child who murdered Charlie Kirk as something aside from one among them and doing all the things they’ll to attain political factors from it,” Kimmel mentioned. “In between the finger-pointing, there was, uh, grieving on Friday — the White Home flew the flags at half-staff, which acquired some criticism, however on a human stage, you’ll be able to see how laborious the president is taking this.”
Kimmel then lower to a clip displaying Trump taking questions from reporters, and when the president was requested how he was holding up, he mentioned, “I feel excellent, and by the way in which, proper there the place you see all of the vans, they simply began development of the brand new ballroom for the White Home.” Trump went on to debate the plans for the ballroom and mentioned the outcomes will “be a magnificence.”
The monologue wasn’t Kimmel’s finest work, however it actually didn’t rise to a stage so harmful that the present wanted to be yanked. But in at the moment’s surroundings, the place worry of retribution from the White Home is driving programming selections, it was sufficient to spook ABC into pulling a late-night franchise that’s endured for many years.
The FCC unsurprisingly didn’t apply the identical requirements to an outburst Monday by Greg Gutfeld, Fox Information’ conservative reply to community tv’s thinning herd of late-night hosts. Gutfeld cursed on air, demeaned the lack of life from one other assassination earlier this 12 months and cited info that was incorrect to again his tirade.
On Fox’s present “The 5,” Gutfeld asserted that political violence within the U.S. was solely going a technique — from left to proper — throughout a dialog with co-host Jessica Tarlov. When she pushed again on his argument by citing the June assassination of the Democratic speaker of the Minnesota Home of Representatives, Melissa Hortman, and her husband, Mark, Gutfeld exploded.
“What’s attention-grabbing right here is, why is just this taking place on the left and never the proper?” he requested. “That’s all we have to know.”
“You wanna discuss Melissa Hortman?” he shouted at her. “Do you know her identify earlier than it occurred? None of us did. None of us had been spending each single day speaking about Mrs. Hortman — I by no means heard of her till after she died.”
“So, it doesn’t matter?” Tarlov requested.
“Don’t play that bulls— with me!” Gutfeld fumed . “You recognize what I’m speaking … What I’m saying is there was no demonization, amplification about that girl earlier than she died. It was a particular crime in opposition to her by anyone who knew her.”
No proof has been publicly introduced that the alleged killer of the Hortmans, Vance Boelter, knew the couple. In line with the U.S. Division of Justice, Boelter “had a listing of doable targets,” and investigators have advised that the suspect’s right-wing political beliefs performed a job within the assaults.
Carr’s assail of Kimmel is the newest assault in opposition to the media by Trump and his administration. Trump sued ABC final 12 months in a case that the community paid $15 million to settle. On Monday, the president filed a $15-billion defamation lawsuit in opposition to the New York Instances and 4 of its reporters.
In July, CBS introduced it could not be renewing the storied community franchise, “The Late Present With Stephen Colbert,” claiming that the present’s cancellation was a monetary determination. However the timing advised the community was pandering to Trump to be able to grease the wheels for a merger between its mum or dad firm, Paramount, and Skydance Media. The merger was awaiting the FCC’s approval. A number of weeks after CBS agreed to pay $16 million to settle Trump’s lawsuit in opposition to CBS Information’ “60 Minutes,” the merger was accredited.
Rankings for late-night tv have been slipping over the past decade as a consequence of a variety of elements, together with the decline of linear TV as a complete and altering viewing habits with the arrival of streaming and on-line engagement. Within the Nineties, for instance, Johnny Carson’s closing episode in 1992 drew 50 million viewers. Letterman averaged round 7.8 million viewers in the identical 12 months. Within the second quarter of 2025, “The Late Present With Stephen Colbert” topped the 11:35 p.m. hour with a median of two.417 million viewers. “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!” got here in second with a median of 1.772 million viewers. NBC’s “The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon” completed third with a median of 1.188 million viewers.
On Wednesday, Trump posted a celebratory remark about Kimmel’s present being pulled: “Nice Information for America: The rankings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Present is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for lastly having the braveness to do what needed to be carried out,” Trump wrote. “Kimmel has ZERO expertise, and worse rankings than even Colbert, if that’s doable. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two complete losers, on Faux Information NBC. Their rankings are additionally horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT”
However the true loser right here isn’t Trump’s critics or his enemy, the left. It’s freedom of speech.
