Jimmy Kimmel had planned to directly confront the MAGA backlash to his comments on Charlie Kirk and President Trump hours before his talk show was yanked off the air by ABC on Wednesday.
Kimmel had a pre-show meeting with Dana Walden, the co-chairman of ABC’s parent company, Disney Entertainment, to discuss what he was preparing to say about the controversial issue, a new report from the Wall Street Journal claims.
Kimmel had planned to claim his words were being “purposefully twisted by some members of the MAGA movement,” the Journal reported, according to a source close to the show.
The host joked about Trump’s reaction to conservative activist Kirk’s death during his late-night show on Monday night. Airing video of the president switching from the murder to his White House renovations within seconds, Kimmel compared Trump’s grief to “how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel’s comments on Wednesday during an interview with right-wing YouTuber Benny Johnson. Carr also threatened to revoke the broadcasting licenses of ABC stations.
Walden and other senior executives feared Kimmel’s planned comments on Wednesday night would inflame the situation, sources familiar with the conversation told the Journal.
ABC executives cited the issue of staff safety, mentioning threatening emails Kimmel staff members had received after Carr’s interview, while others were doxxed by having their personal information posted online.
Walden and Disney CEO Bob Iger made the decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live temporarily! immediately, then advised the host of their call, The Journal claimed.
The studio audience was already at the venue on Wednesday but were sent home without being told why the show was cancelled.
The Daily Beast has contacted Jimmy Kimmel and ABC representatives for comment.
Kimmel was photographed in an L.A. car park on Thursday night. He has yet to make an official comment on his show’s suspension.
The Kimmel decision was heightened after Nexstar, which owns ABC affiliate stations across America, decided to pull the show on Wednesday. Nexstar is currently in the process of a $6.2 billion merger with media company Tegna, which requires sign-off from the FCC. However, they claim that it had no impact on their action.
“The decision to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! was made unilaterally by the senior executive team at Nexstar, and they had no communication with the FCC or any government agency prior to making that decision,” Nexstar said in a statement.
Trump had celebrated Kimmel’s show being taken off the air in a Truth Social post. On Thursday, he told reporters on Air Force One that broadcast networks “only give me bad press… I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”
He added that such a decision would be “up to Brendan Carr… he’s a patriot and he’s a tough guy.” Trump appointed Carr to the FCC role.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez clarified the organization’s powers on Thursday night.
“We don’t license the networks, we license local broadcasters, so there is no license to pull from the networks,” Gomez said on Erin Burnett OutFront.
“We are governed by the First Amendment and by the Communications Act, which prohibits us from censoring broadcasters. So no, we cannot pull local broadcasters licenses simply because they air content that he [Trump] does not like,” Gomez said.
She added the FCC doesn’t have the constitutional right to take action against broadcasters the Trump administration are displeased with. “They don‘t like anyone that pushes back against them. So what you see are just threats, but the threats are the point.”
Gomez also called out major media companies making preemptive moves against anti-Trump content ahead of billion dollar corporate mergers that require FCC sign-off.
“These are parties that are very cowardly capitulating before they‘re even required to do something,” Gomez said.
“And that is what we‘re seeing again and again, ABC capitulated, Disney capitulated, Paramount capitulated. We need courage, not capitulation.”
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