Cliff Notes
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Jimmy Kimmel is set to return to his late-night show on Tuesday after being suspended for controversial comments regarding Charlie Kirk’s assassination and criticism of Donald Trump‘s response.
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Over 430 Hollywood stars, including Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep, signed an open letter defending free speech and condemning Kimmel’s suspension, framing it as a “dark moment for freedom of speech.”
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The suspension followed backlash from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who threatened regulatory action against Disney and ABC for Kimmel’s remarks, prompting significant public outrage and a statement from former President Barack Obama on media coercion.
Jimmy Kimmel show to return after being taken off air over Charlie Kirk comments | US News
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Late night TV show presenter Jimmy Kimmel, who was taken off the air following a row over comments about Charlie Kirk, will return on Tuesday.
Kimmel, who was accused of being “offensive and insensitive” because of what he said on his show last Monday, will go back on air in his regular slot.
Disney said in a statement: “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.
“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.
“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Earlier today, hundreds of Hollywood stars signed an open letter to defend free speech following Kimmel’s suspension.
Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Anniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are among those who have penned the appeal.
More than 430 of the stars, including comedians, directors and writers, urged Americans to “fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights”.
The letter is addressed to the American Civil Liberties Union, and argues the decision was a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation”.
The letter adds: “Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country.
“We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”
The list of signatures also includes Emmy-winner Noah Wyle, Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh, comedian David Cross, Tony-winner Kelli O’Hara and Molly Ringwald. Pedro Pascal, Billy Crystal, Nathan Lane, Kerry Washington and Kevin Bacon have also signed the letter.
The letter concludes: “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”
Kimmel had used his show to accuse President Donald Trump and his allies of capitalising on the conservative influencer’s assassination.
He said: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Speaking about Trump, he added: “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
“Many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he continued.
The Disney-owned ABC pulled the show following criticism from Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Mr Carr had threatened to “take action” against Disney and ABC.
In an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, he said: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way”.
Mr Carr then praised the move, saying “it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values”.
But the decision sparked a global, furious backlash from the public and high-profile figures around the world.
Among them was former US President Barack Obama, who said on X: “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.”
He added: “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 decision came at a time Disney and Nexstar, the network operator, had FCC business ahead of them, with the former seeking regulatory approval for ESPN’s acquisition of the NFL Network and the latter need the Trump administrations approval to complete a $6.2billion purchase of broadcast rival, Tegna.
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