ABC’s parent company quietly decided to pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely after the host’s monologues about the shocking killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk set off a firestorm. The decision was forced by major affiliate groups pulling the show from their lineups, leaving ABC with little choice but to take the program off the air while the political pressure swirls.
The affiliate pushback was led by station groups like Nexstar and Sinclair, which called Kimmel’s remarks offensive and insensitive and moved to replace his program immediately; even the chairman of the FCC publicly warned networks about their conduct and the potential for regulatory consequences. This is not just a media squabble — it’s a raw display of how regulatory muscle and corporate gatekeepers can reshape what millions of Americans see on television.
Sinclair went further, demanding a public apology and even payments to the family and organizations tied to Charlie Kirk before considering restoring the show to its stations, underscoring how economic and reputational pressure is now weaponized against entertainers and commentators. That kind of corporate extortion dressed up as “standards” should make every defender of free expression uneasy.
Let’s not forget who applauded when conservatives were previously deplatformed. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez famously celebrated Tucker Carlson’s ouster from Fox News, declaring that “deplatforming works and is important,” a remark she used to boost left-wing fundraising and morale. That statement is returning to haunt the left now that one of their own faces the same kind of removal they cheered.
This isn’t about whether you like Jimmy Kimmel’s jokes — it’s about the principle. When a political faction endorses the removal of opposing voices as a tactic, it sows the seeds of its own downfall the moment the boot is on the other foot. Conservatives have warned for years that normalizing deplatforming and public shaming is a one-way ticket to a landscape where no dissent is safe.
The ugly hand of politics reaching into broadcast decisions, and federal officials dangling licenses like leverage, reveals how fragile our free-speech norms have become in a hyperpartisan era. Even President Trump and his allies celebrated Kimmel’s suspension, turning what should be a sober conversation about decency into another partisan victory lap, which only deepens the rot.
Patriots and everyday Americans should demand consistency: apply the same standards to everyone or abandon the pretense that we live in a free marketplace of ideas. If the left is going to cheer censorship when it targets a conservative, it can’t be surprised when conservatives respond in kind or when the public loses faith in institutions that pick winners and losers based on ideology. Defend free speech today, or expect to lose it tomorrow.
