David Letterman appeared at The Atlantic festival today.
The beloved former talk show host had a lot to say about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension by ABC.
Variety picked up Letterman’s comments that what’s happened was premeditated. As we know, Trump threatened Kimmel’s cancellation in July. He gloated over it today at a press conference in the UK.
“This is misery,” Letterman said when asked about Kimmel’s suspension. “I feel bad about this,” he continued. “We see where this is all going, correct? It’s managed media. And it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. And you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.”
“In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,” said Letterman.
Letterman also said, “The institution of the president of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show.” Kimmel’s removal from late-night TV, he said, “was predicted by our president right after Stephen Colbert got walked off, so you’re telling me this isn’t premeditated at some level?”
