John Lamparski/Getty Images for Concordia Annual Summit; Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
- FCC Chair Brendan Carr responded to ABC’s reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel.
- Before Kimmel’s suspension, Carr seemed to pressure ABC to take action against the late-night host.
- That led to public outcry over free speech, including from several key Republicans.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is responding to ABC’s reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel.
In a post on X Tuesday, Carr said “Democrats” were “engaged in nothing more than Projection and Distortion” on the late-night star.
“Projection because Democrats are the ones that spent years illegally weaponizing government to silence dissent. And it is Democrats that will do it all again—as they are openly telling you today,” he wrote.
“Distortion because Democrats want to blame anything other than Disney and their local TV stations for Kimmel’s suspension.
Carr was responding to an X post by California state senator Scott Weiner.
Weiner had posted that he wanted to break up Sinclair, ABC’s largest affiliate, which has said it will replace “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” with news programming
Sinclair said it is “still evaluating” whether to show Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its stations. For now, it will replace the show with news programming, it added.
Reached on Monday by Business Insider, Carr referred to comments he made earlier in the day about the incident.
In his Tuesday X post, Carr added it was “a good thing” that “any local TV stations have pushed back on a national programmer like Disney,” which is ABC’s owner.
“After all, local TV stations—not the national programmers—have public interest obligations, and they should be making decisions that in their view meets the needs of their local communities,” he said.
Kimmel is set to return on Tuesday night. He was suspended by the network last Wednesday following comments about the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The Walt Disney Company described Kimmel’s comments as “ill-timed and thus insensitive” in a Monday statement announcing his reinstatement. The company said they made the decision to suspend Kimmel “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”
Hours before Kimmel’s suspension, Carr appeared to pressure the network to take action against the late-night host.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on a podcast hosted by conservative influencer Benny Johnson. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Carr’s comments drew condemnation from across the political spectrum, including from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, an ally of President Donald Trump who chairs the Senate committee that oversees the FCC.
“What he said there is dangerous as hell,” Cruz said, comparing Carr’s comments to those of a mafioso.
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