There’s a social media storm over ABC’s indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show after he made comments about Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during his monologue.
The suspension started on Wednesday, and about 300 people have taken to the streets to protest in front of Disney Studios in Burbank. Signs read “Shame,” “Disney show some backbone,” and “Don’t Censor Comedy.”
One protestor told KNX News’ Pete Demetriou the suspension was orchestrated from the White House through the FCC, and was carried out by TV affiliate owners.
“I think that they were bullied and basically, you know, extortion,” she said. “That was it. They do what he wants or they don't get what they want,”
Another protestor said the First Amendment is in danger of being eviscerated.
“Like, where does it stop? Like, just because the FCC doesn't like what someone's saying, they can bully anyone they want, like we haven't seen anything like this since the McCarthy era. Their job as the FCC is to enforce the standards, not set the standards,” he said.
Other protestors thought a Congressional Probe is needed to get at the heart of an effort by the Trump Administration to suppress free speech and silence critics.
KNX News’ Craig Fiegener spoke to people in Hollywood about their thoughts on Kimmel’s suspension.
“I think ABC made the right decision because Jimmy Kimmel will sit there and roast people and do all this thing. It's not really educating our youth or helping them at all. In the long run, is watching Jimmy Kimmel going to help them in the real world? Because it's not going to,” one man said.
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“There are stops there to keep him in his lane, but no one wants to do that because he's proven to be the all-powerful Oz at this point,” one woman said about President Donald Trump.
Kimmel, whose contract is up in May 2026, has not commented.
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