A Jacksonville man who was among hundreds set to watch “Jimmy Kimmel Live” is raising concerns about the suspension, calling it an attack on free speech.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville man who was among hundreds set to watch “Jimmy Kimmel Live” before it was pulled from the air says he is raising concerns about free speech after ABC abruptly suspended the show following comments over the Charlie Kirk assassination by the comedian.
Tommy Williams says he and a friend waited in line to enter the show Wednesday night but were told at the last minute that it had been canceled.
The suspension came after Kimmel suggested during his Monday monologue that the accused killer of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk may have been a pro-Trump Republican.
“We’re all Americans,” Williams said. “We all share the same rights. And our most important amendment is our First one. And without it, we do not have a democracy.”
Kimmel criticized Republicans and the MAGA movement, saying in part, “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.”
The suspension followed a warning from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who threatened to “take action” against ABC.
President Donald Trump praised the move, claiming Kimmel was “fired because he had bad ratings,” calling the comedian “not a talented person” and dismissing the issue as a ratings problem rather than free speech.
But Williams and others have pushed back, calling the suspension an attack on free speech.
“Censorship is one of the greatest tools to authoritarianism,” Williams said.
He also expressed concern for the show’s crew members, who he saw turned away when they arrived to work.
“I’m a union worker, you know, I work at the port in Jacksonville,” he said. “Everybody on these shows, they’re all union. They had a job to go to every day, and now they don’t.”
Williams said viewers can choose what to watch at home but warned that what happened to Kimmel’s show signals a troubling erosion of First Amendment rights.
“This isn’t just like another ‘what happened today in the news’ story,” he said. “This is the First Amendment being chipped away.”
Neither ABC nor Jimmy Kimmel have commented publicly on the suspension.