Source: MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images / Getty
Charlie Kirk’s death is still the biggest story in the news cycle and the fallout from the shocking shooting has taken on a life of its own. Dozens of people including teachers, airline workers, and writers have been fired, suspended, and publicly outed as a result of their comments about the conservative podcaster’s death and the surrounding circumstances. Yesterday, news broke that one of the biggest and most notable critics of the reactions to Kirk’s death was given an extraordinarily controversial consequence.
ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, would be removed from air indefinitely after Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group, two of the largest TV stations owners in America, would be pulling Kimmel’s show from their networks following remarks regarding Donald Trump and the GOPs’ reactions to Kirk’s death.
”We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” said Kimmel on air.
Kimmel also mocked Trump’s reaction to being asked about his emotional state after his “friend” was killed and responding by talking about how great the new White House ballroom will be when construction is finished.
For their part, Sinclair released a statement explaining why they felt the need to suspend Kimmel’s show with no date of return…via Variety:
“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” Sinclair vice chairman Jason Smith said in a statement. “We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities. We appreciate FCC Chairman Carr’s remarks today and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.”
Sinclair has also demanded that Kimmel make a public apology to Charlie Kirk’s wife and family in addition to making a personal charitable donation to Kirk’s right-wing think tank company, Turning Point USA.
People have expressed skepticism about ABC’s decision because hours prior to announcing it, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr went on conservative personality Benny Johnson’s show to express his displeasure not only with Kimmel but also threatened ABC with legal action if they did not remove the talk show host from air, saying:
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way…There’s actions we can take on licensed broadcasters. It’s long past the time that… Comcast and Disney say ‘We’re not gonna run Kimmel anymore…because we licensed broadcasters are running the possibly of fines or license revocation from the FCC.’”
It appears that Carr has not always felt this way about the jokes that late night talk show hosts tell as there are years of tweets of him not only defending them but also agreeing with then-president Joe Biden about their place in American entertainment…
Wonder what might have made Carr have such an abrupt change of heart about an issue that he seemed very resolute about previously.
