{"id":25791,"date":"2025-09-18T17:24:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T00:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/?p=25791"},"modified":"2025-10-08T16:14:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T23:14:36","slug":"and-now-its-jimmy-kimmel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2025\/09\/18\/and-now-its-jimmy-kimmel\/","title":{"rendered":"And Now It&#8217;s Jimmy Kimmel"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>Jimmy Kimmel pulled off air for comments about Charlie Kirk;<\/li>\n<li>With comments by Adam Serwer and Zack Beauchamp;<\/li>\n<li>And how a huge business deal is behind this;<\/li>\n<li>NYT in 1939 describing how Joseph Goebbels did the same thing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div align=\"center\">&#8211; &#8211; &#8211;<\/div>\n<p>And so the authoritarian playbook continues. Latest victim: late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel. (Whom I&#8217;m aware of though I&#8217;ve never watched his show.)<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/app\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Jimmy-Kimmel-2234218792.jpg\" width=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Salon, Heather Digby Parton, 18 Sept 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salon.com\/2025\/09\/18\/jimmy-kimmel-is-the-latest-casualty-in-trumps-war-on-media\/\">Jimmy Kimmel is the latest casualty in Trump\u2019s war on media<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;POTUS and his henchmen are intent on bringing the left to heel&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Recalling the previous TV victim:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Stephen Colbert\u2019s contract for \u201cThe Late Show\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/entertainment-arts\/tv\/story\/2025-07-18\/stephen-colbert-cancellation-cbs-paramount-the-late-show\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">wasn\u2019t renewed<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> by CBS in July, President Donald Trump <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/114874422468516376\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">celebrated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Truth Social. \u201cI absolutely love that Colbert got fired,\u201d he posted. \u201cHis talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>(Note again Trump&#8217;s obsession with ratings, as if that&#8217;s all that matters in the world &#8212; popularity.)<\/p>\n<p>Now the victim is Jimmy Kimmel. What did he say exactly? Only what I and many people have said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NY Times, 17 Sept \/ 18 Sept 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/09\/17\/business\/media\/abc-jimmy-kimmel.html\">ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel Off Air for Charlie Kirk Comments After F.C.C. Pressure<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Mr. Kimmel faced criticism from the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission for remarks about the politics of the man who is accused of killing Mr. Kirk, the conservative activist.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>ABC announced on Wednesday evening that it was pulling Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s late night show \u201cindefinitely\u201d after conservatives accused the longtime host of inaccurately describing the politics of the man who is accused of fatally shooting the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n<p>&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>The comments at the center of this week\u2019s firestorm came during Mr. Kimmel\u2019s opening monologue on Monday night. \u201cWe 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,\u201d the host said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The conservatives are saying this is an outrage, while a couple (much more honest) commentators admit that Kimmel made a &#8220;mistake.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Atlantic, Adam Serwer, 18 Sept 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/ideas\/archive\/2025\/09\/this-wont-stop-with-jimmy-kimmel\/684251\/\">The Constitution Protects Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s Mistake<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Free speech is under assault.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Kimmel seemed to imply that the man accused of killing the conservative activist Charlie Kirk was a Donald Trump\u2013supporting conservative. This was at best an unconfirmed rumor at the time, and as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2025\/09\/16\/us\/kirk-shooting-suspect-charges\" data-event-element=\"inline link\" data-gtm-vis-recent-on-screen31117857_899=\"92488\" data-gtm-vis-first-on-screen31117857_899=\"92488\" data-gtm-vis-total-visible-time31117857_899=\"100\" data-gtm-vis-has-fired31117857_899=\"1\">more evidence has emerged<\/a>, seems flatly incorrect. Kimmel should have chosen his words more carefully.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But this was a preliminary conclusion that many people drew, around last weekend, given the killer&#8217;s background. And it&#8217;s still covered by free speech. Yet conservatives think he must be fired, be cancelled, for not expressing proper adulation to their hero. Their moves are authoritarian, even totalitarian.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/09\/gettyimages-2219938221.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0%2C1.5119671734057%2C100%2C53.34288443171&amp;w=750\" width=\"400\" \/>\/&gt;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vox, Zack Beauchamp, 17 Sept 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/461887\/jimmy-kimmel-suspension-air-abc-charlie-kirk-nexstar\">Let\u2019s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel<\/a>, subtitled &#8220;Trump\u2019s most brazen attack on free speech yet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Let\u2019s be clear about what just happened: Jimmy Kimmel, a prominent late-night comedian, was just taken off the airwaves because the Trump administration didn\u2019t like what he had to say \u2014 and threatened his employer until they shut him up.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration, it appears, has learned to effectively weaponize the regulatory powers of the federal government to punish speech it doesn\u2019t like from people it doesn\u2019t like. This is a favored weapon of modern autocrats; its deployment against Kimmel is a qualitative escalation even above the administration\u2019s previous acts of censorship&#8230;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p>Yet again, so many moves by the Trump administration seen driven by appealing to the interests of big business. That seems to be where true conservatism lies.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/jmg18sep25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/jmg18sep25-300x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>JMG, 18 Sept 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joemygod.com\/2025\/09\/owner-of-stations-behind-kimmel-move-is-awaiting-approval-for-6-2-billion-acquisition-of-its-main-rival\/\">Owner Of Stations Behind Kimmel Move Is Awaiting Approval For $6.2 Billion Acquisition Of Its Main Rival<\/a>. (From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/tv\/tv-news\/abc-suspends-jimmy-kimmel-live-charlie-kirk-1236374150\/\">Hollywood Reporter<\/a>)<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The decision by Nexstar comes as the broadcast station is seeking FCC approval for its $6.2 billion mega deal to acquire Tegna, a deal that would make Nexstar by far the largest owner of local TV stations in the country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>These kinds of deals aren&#8217;t always prominent in the news.<\/p>\n<p>\\<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/cnn18sep25.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/cnn18sep25-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>CNN, analysis by Stephen Collinson, 18 Sept 2025<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2025\/09\/18\/politics\/corporate-america-jimmy-kimmel-trump\">Trump\u2019s Kimmel shutdown shows how corporate America caters to him<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\\\\\\<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives resent the comparison of Trump to Hitler, or conservatives to Nazis, but here&#8217;s what folks on Facebook turned up and posted today. From the New York Times in 1939.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fbgoebbelsitem_461x706.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fbgoebbelsitem_461x706.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"461\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels today ended the professional careers of five &#8220;Aryan&#8221; actors and cabaret announcers by expelling them from the Reich&#8217;s Chamber of Culture on the grounds that &#8220;in their public appearances they displayed a lack of any positive attitude toward National Socialism and therewith caused grave annoyance in public and especially to party comrades.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>And here we are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jimmy Kimmel pulled off air for comments about Charlie Kirk; With comments by Adam Serwer and Zack Beauchamp; And how a huge business deal is behind this; NYT in 1939 describing how Joseph Goebbels did the same thing. &#8211; &#8211; &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/2025\/09\/18\/and-now-its-jimmy-kimmel\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,18,54,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-authoritarianism","category-lunacy","category-politics","category-religion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25791"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25927,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25791\/revisions\/25927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.markrkelly.com\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}