Jimmy Kimmel’s sudden suspension from his late-night show has many on the left screaming censorship, while conservatives are cheering the move as simple journalistic accountability. But if you dig deeper, this story looks more like corporate survival.
After Charlie Kirk’s tragic murder, facts quickly confirmed the obvious: The killer was a radicalized leftist. Yet, on his show, Kimmel sneered, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
That wasn’t just inaccurate; it was outright propaganda in direct violation of FCC rules.
Under 47 CFR § 73.1217 — also known as the broadcast hoaxes rule — TV networks and radio stations are prohibited from airing false information about crimes or catastrophes if they know it’s false.
§ 73.1217 Broadcast hoaxes.
(a) No licensee or permittee of any broadcast station shall broadcast false information concerning a crime or a catastrophe if:
(1) The licensee knows this information is false;
(2) It is foreseeable that broadcast of the information will cause substantial public harm, and
(3) Broadcast of the information does in fact directly cause substantial public harm.
Authorities had confirmed multiple times before Kimmel’s Monday broadcast that Tyler Robinson, the man who assassinated Charlie Kirk, was a radicalized leftist. There was no excuse for Kimmel to promote this blatant lie. This meant that ABC had a major problem on its hands.
In other words, the decision to pull the plug on Jimmy Kimmel Live! wasn’t just about protecting Americans from another corrosive falsehood from a late-night host.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who has taken a tough stance on broadcasters failing to uphold the public interest, publicly threatened action against ABC and Disney. That sent shockwaves through the industry. Nexstar Media Group, one of the most influential operators of ABC affiliates, announced it would no longer air Kimmel’s show, slamming his remarks as “offensive and insensitive.”
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But it wasn’t just about offense. Nexstar is in the middle of a massive $6.2 billion merger deal with Tegna, and the last thing it needs is heightened FCC scrutiny triggered by Kimmel’s reckless rant. More controversy means more hurdles and delays, so taking action against Kimmel was a business necessity.
As the New York Post noted, “In the past, the FCC has given wide latitude for broadcasters to air anything except obscenity; that’s why people like Steven Colbert, Kimmel and even alleged straight news broadcasts like ’60 Minutes’ could get away with left-wing commentary despite wide swaths of the country hating those views.”
But this wasn’t mere left-wing commentary; this was “broadcast[ing] false information concerning a crime,” in contradiction of an FCC regulation, plain and simple. Kimmel’s network didn’t pull him just because he crossed a rhetorical line; it pulled him because the network can’t afford the price of defending him at this delicate moment.
When one considers Kimmel’s declining ratings, he certainly isn’t a hill worth dying on.
Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension isn’t censorship; it’s accountability. When the mainstream media spreads lies that break FCC rules, the corporate giants scramble to save their skin. PJ Media exposes the stories the media buries. Join PJ Media VIP today with code FIGHT for 60% off. Don’t let falsehoods win — stand with us now.
