The late-night host Jimmy Kimmel declared victory over President Trump’s “tyranny” in a Christmas speech aired in the UK.
Kimmel, whose ABC show Jimmy Kimmel Live! was briefly suspended over his criticism of Republicans’ reaction to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, was chosen by Channel 4 to deliver the Alternative Christmas Message this year.
The tradition, which dates back to 1993, usually showcases a controversial media personality as a foil to the King’s official address. In his message, Kimmel took the opportunity to criticise Trump and his administration for meddling with his talk show and threatening free speech.
• Sign up for The Times’s weekly US newsletter
“Our show came back stronger than ever,” Kimmel said. “We won, the president lost, and now I’m back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician on earth a right and richly deserved bollocking. That’s a word, right? I used it properly?”
Kimmel lauded the “millions and millions of people” who condemned ABC parent company Disney’s decision to take his show off the air.
“People who never watched my show, people who were on record saying they hate my show spoke out, they marched, they did this all to support the right to a free expression of speech and because so many people spoke out, we came back,” he said.
• Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert wrote their own pink slips
Kimmel claimed the US is “both figuratively and literally tearing down the structures of our democracy”, and warned Britons about how insidious free-speech suppression is and how fast it moves.
“And the reason I’m telling you this story is because maybe you’re thinking: ‘Oh, a government silencing its critics is something that happens in places like Russia, or North Korea, or LA, not the UK,” he said. “Well, that’s what we thought, and now we’ve got King Donny the Eighth calling for executions. It happens fast.”
Kimmel’s show was “pre-empted indefinitely” after Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr said the FCC had “avenues” to cancel it.
• Erika Kirk anoints JD Vance as the true heir of Maga
Kimmel had criticised Republicans for trying to “score political points” by depicting Kirk’s assassin as left-wing without evidence.
“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said on The Benny Show. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
The brief suspension sparked protests outside Disney’s offices in Burbank, California, and demands from lawmakers on both sides of the political spectrum for the show to return on air.
The show was reinstated a week after the suspension.
• How Disney nearly killed Toy Story — by a Pixar boss
Kimmel ended his Alternative Christmas Message by asking Britain “not to give up on” America, hinting that Trump’s term would eventually come to an end.
“Look, I know from the musical Hamilton that our countries didn’t start off on the greatest note, but I also know from seeing Love Actually that we have a special relationship,” he said. “So, if I might speak on behalf of my country, which I most certainly do not, our message to you, our friends across the pond this Christmas is: don’t give up on us.
“We’re going through a bit of a wobble right now, but we’ll come around. It may not seem like it, but we love you guys.”