Tuesday, May 19, 2026

ABC-Disney Caves to Trump Again, Yanks Jimmy Kimmel Show Off the Air Over Charlie Kirk Comments, First Amendment Threatened

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Disney and ABC have shown what cowards they are again.

They’ve pulled the Jimmy Kimmel show off the air indefinitely over comments the talk show host made about Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel must be livid, and this could be the end of his show, his patience with Disney exhausted. Imagine the lawsuit the network could face for their stupidity.

What did Kimmel say? He indicated that MAGA was behind the Kirk killing. His producers and the network cleared the taped show for broadcast. It’s their fault not his if they objected to his statement. But of course, let the scapegoating begin.

As you may know, firings and suspensions from jobs are happening everywhere over anyone who says anything negative about Kirk — who was a virulent racist and misogynist. But if you say it, you’re finished in this new deep freeze against freedom of expression.

Among the fired: MSNBC’s Matthew Dowd, who said nothing wrong when Kirk died, explaining that he’d heated up the atmosphere around so this kind of thing could happen.

MSNBC immediately fired him. On Monday, Rachel Maddow — usually outspoken — curbed her remarks to just a few seconds on Kirk. Was it out of fear of reprisal? I hope not.

The report from CNBC:
″ ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesman told NBC News.

The statement came shortly after Nexstar Media Group said its company-owned and “partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight’s show.”

“Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets,” Nextstar said.

Andrew Alford, the president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said, “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”

“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue,” Alford said.

The First Amendment is in peril now more than ever. Call Disney and complain! (818) 560-1000

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009 and previously edited Fame magazine and wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. is articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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