The “indefinite” suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live by ABC after the FCC threatened to take action against the network has sparked considerable outrage. Many are blasting the Trump administration for orchestrating the suspension, and former President Barack Obama blasted the administration on social media Thursday (Sept. 18).
“After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” the first post read, with a link to a Vox opinion piece on the situation by Zack Beauchamp.
Beauchamp spelled out how the Trump administration and FCC chairman Brendan Carr “has learned to effectively weaponize the regulatory powers of the federal government to punish speech it doesn’t like from people it doesn’t like. This is a favored weapon of modern autocrats; its deployment against Kimmel is a qualitative escalation even above the administration’s previous acts of censorship (like targeting the author of a pro-Palestinian op-ed for deportation.”
In the second post, Obama wrote: “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.” The post linked to a New York Times article covering former Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah’s firing by the paper after her posts concerning slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Attiah would agree with the former president in her own post on X, noting her last column with the post was critical of him: “His people took issue with my piece, but were respectful. Now he is tweeting in support of me. This is how free political speech and respect for debate *actually works*.”
The comedian spoke about the murder of Kirk at a speaking event in Utah last week as part of his opening monologue on Monday (Sept. 15), criticizing President Donald Trump and his MAGA supporters. After a podcast appearance by Carr on Wednesday, threatening action, Kimmel’s show was pulled from ABC affiliate stations owned by Nexstar and the conservative Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Nexstar is in the midst of trying to get FCC approval for its $6.2 billion merger with broadcast rival Tegna, and Sinclair is also planning on seeking FCC approval for future acquisitions. They also demanded that Kimmel issue a public apology and donate to Kirk’s family before being allowed back on air.
