Conan O’Brien is weighing in on ABC’s decision to indefinitely suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“The suspension of @jimmykimmel and the promise to silence other Late Night hosts for criticizing the administration should disturb everyone on the Right, Left, and Center,” he wrote on X. “It’s wrong and anyone with a conscience knows it’s wrong.”
The former Late Night and Tonight Show host is one of many late night TV hosts who have voiced their disapproval on the indefinite suspension of Kimmel’s show. Thursday night, as most late-night shows aired their episodes taped after ABC revealed their decision, Stephen Colbert defended Kimmel, notably after his own The Late Show was recently canceled by CBS.
He started Thursday night’s episode saying, “Tonight, we are all Jimmy Kimmel … I stand with you and your staff 100 percent.” Jimmy Fallon also backed his fellow late night host, and said he “hope[s] he comes back” on air.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! was “pre-empted indefinitely” by ABC on Wednesday shortly after Nexstar released a statement noting they would not air the planned episode and would preempt the long-running talk show for the foreseeable future.
The backlash stemmed from Kimmel’s remarks about the alleged shooter of Charlie Kirk. His comments were as follows: “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.”
Following Kimmel’s remarks, Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr went on a podcast on Wednesday where he publicly condemned Kimmel’s comments and urged affiliates should “push back” on ABC. Hours later, the suspension news broke.
A source told The Hollywood Reporter Kimmel was prepared to address the backlash on Wednesday night’s canceled show. He planned to explain what he said and demonstrate how it was taken out of context. The source added that Kimmel was not planning on apologizing. He felt that what he said did not need an apology.
Late night TV legend David Letterman shared his thoughts on the matter earlier on Thursday during a panel at the Atlantic Festival, where he referred to President Donald Trump’s presidency as an “authoritarian criminal administration.”
“You know, I just, I feel bad about this because we all see where this is going, correct? It’s managed media. And it’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous,” he said. “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.”
Current Late Night host Seth Meyers stressed the importance of free speech during his Thursday night episode and offered support for Kimmel.
“It is a privilege and an honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend, in the same way that it’s a privilege and honor to do this show every night,” Meyers said. “I wake up every day and I count my blessings that I live in a country that at least purports to value freedom of speech, and we’re gonna keep doing our show the way we’ve always done it with enthusiasm and integrity.”
