Jimmy Kimmel’s wife had a few pointed words for President Donald Trump.
Speaking at the Hollywood Reporter’s Women In Entertainment breakfast on Wednesday, Molly McNearney — who also is the executive producer of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — reflected on the significance of “freedom of speech,” a principle she admitted she once “took for granted.”
She recalled the September period when her husband’s show was pulled off the air over comments about far-right podcaster Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer. McNearney emphasized the fallout that followed.
“I watched a show and co-workers and friends and a man I love be put on ‘indefinite suspension’ after our thin-skinned president asked for his removal and his [Federal Communications Commission] chair to publicly threaten the company we work for,” McNearney said. “It is a fragile time for freedom.”
Molly McNearney attends the Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment breakfast Wednesday in Beverly Hills, California.
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McNearney went on, “Freedom of speech is the foundation on which this great country was built. A freedom that great Americans like James Madison, Frederick Douglass, Alice Paul and a bunch of other people I Googled late last night fought really hard for us to have and to keep.”
She then broadened her message.
“We lose our freedoms when we are scared and when we are distracted,” she said. “I have been very consumed by both. Fear is contagious, but the good news is, so is bravery.”
Jimmy Kimmel and McNearney attend the Hollywood Reporter’s annual Women in Entertainment event at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Wednesday in Beverly Hills, California.
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McNearney noted that she’s watched her husband, his staff and other late night hosts consistently hold those in power to account — and do so without flinching.
“We must not be afraid to speak up and speak out to protect this country and all the people in it,” she added.
The executive producer also shared that her “husband and her workplace” have been “threatened by the president of the United States multiple times, and the propaganda machine that feasts on deliberately misinterpreting” their words.
“I’m one of the lucky ones. We got knocked down, and with all of you, you helped us get back up,” she told the audience.
After a wave of public backlash, Kimmel was back on the air by Sept. 23. His program had been pulled the previous week, on Sept. 17, after the FCC threats.