Marc Maron thinks it’s time for “free speech warrior” comedians like Joe Rogan, Dave Chappelle, Andrew Schulz and others to put their money where their mouthes are and stand up for Jimmy Kimmel.
“It’s happening. Jimmy Kimmel has been muzzled and taken off the air by his network ABC,” the comedian and podcaster said, ominously, in a video posted to Instagram late Wednesday night. It came after news broke that Disney had buckled to threats from FCC Chair Brendan Carr and pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live “indefinitely” because the Trump administration didn’t like what he had to say about Charlie Kirk’s killing.
“This is government censorship,” Maron stressed. “This is the Trump administration coming after people who speak out against him.” He then told anyone watching him that if they have “any concern” about “free speech,” now is the time to speak up.
“This is what authoritarianism looks like right now in this country, it’s happening,” he said. “So if you’re a free speech warrior, or you really talk the talk about protecting free speech, this isn’t about saying the ‘r-word’ or the ‘t-word’ or any of that, this is government censorship.”
Maron has been a prominent voice in the comedy world against “anti-woke” comedians like Rogan and others who claim to believe in free expression above all while also supporting a president who has used his power to silence those he disagrees with. So far, those comedians on the MAGA side have stayed silent on Kimmel’s suspension.
Carr and others in Trump’s inner circle accused Kimmel of “explicitly” and falsely claiming that Charlie Kirk’s killer was a Trump supporter. But what the host actually said on his show earlier this week did not go that far.
The quote from his late-night monologue that they have zeroed in on reads, “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.”
From there, Kimmel went on to make fun of Trump for ignoring a reporter’s question about Kirk to boast about his White House ballroom.
Maron ended his video message by saying, “Look, if they can come for Kimmel, they can come for anybody. This is happening. It’s time to act.”
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