For several days after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s show following pressure from the Trump administration, there was no public reaction from Joe Rogan, the influential podcaster who has made free speech a central part of his brand and who endorsed President Trump last year.
But Mr. Rogan, who attributed his initial silence on the subject to an elk-hunting trip in the mountains with limited internet service, weighed in through an episode of a podcast that was released on Tuesday. “I definitely don’t think that the government should be involved, ever, in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue,” he said.
Mr. Rogan went on to address the broadcasters that have faced decisions over whether to continuing airing Mr. Kimmel’s show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” as well as the glee some conservatives have expressed over the show’s suspension.
“The companies, if they’re being pressured by the government — so if that’s real — and if people on the right are like, ‘Yeah, go get ’em,’ oh, my God, you’re crazy,” Mr. Rogan said. “You’re crazy for supporting this. Because this will be used on you.”
“You don’t think that the [expletive] globalist lizard people who run the world are sitting here going: ‘Great, what do we got — three years? We’ll wait this out. We’ll wait this out. Yeah, yeah, yeah, let them say the government should be involved in censoring people’s speech.’ ”
By the time the podcast was released, ABC had announced that Mr. Kimmel would return to its airwaves on Tuesday night, though boycotts from two major owners of local stations complicated the outlook for the program.
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The post Joe Rogan Has Some Thoughts About Jimmy Kimmel’s Suspension appeared first on New York Times.
