{"id":238093,"date":"2025-09-19T04:44:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T04:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/238093\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T04:44:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T04:44:18","slug":"jon-stewart-stephen-colbert-weigh-in-on-jimmy-kimmels-suspension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/238093\/","title":{"rendered":"Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert weigh in on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While Thursday\u2019s \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d was preempted by a rerun of \u201cCelebrity Family Feud,\u201d continuing ABC\u2019s indefinite suspension of the talk show<\/a>, some of Kimmel\u2019s late-night colleagues used their platform to sound off. <\/p>\n

On \u201cThe Daily Show,\u201d which airs on Paramount-owned Comedy Central and has rotating hosts, Jon Stewart suited up for emceeing duties outside his usual Monday slot. Desi Lydic had been hosting this week, but the comedian had something to say about the issues surrounding his friend Kimmel. <\/p>\n

Stewart leaned heavy into irony from the start of the show, saying it is now the \u201call new, government-approved\u201d version, and was introduced as the evening\u2019s \u201cpatriotically obedient host.\u201d Stewart frequently scolded the audience for laughing at his sarcastic pandering to the Trump administration. He said the show was being taped in the \u201ccrime-ridden cesspool that is New York City\u201d and notes that \u201csomeone\u2019s National Guard should invade this place, am I right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know who this \u2018Johnny Drimmel Live\u2019 ABC character is, but the point is, our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cSome naysayers may argue that this administration\u2019s speech concerns are merely a cynical ploy, a thin gruel of a ruse, a smoke screen to obscure an unprecedented consolidation of power and unitary intimidation, principleless and coldly antithetical to any experiment in a constitutional republic governance. Some people would say that. Not me, though, I think it\u2019s great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart and the correspondents then serenaded the president with an off-key tune filled with compliments and praises.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Jimmy Fallon, host of NBC\u2019s \u201cThe Tonight Show,\u201d briefly addressed the situation<\/a> in his monologue Thursday night saying, \u201cTo be honest with you all, I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on \u2014 no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, funny and loving guy. And I hope he comes back.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fallon said he would continue his monologue \u201cjust like I normally would,\u201d but the punchline of his jokes about Trump came with an announcer interrupting any possible slights with flattery. <\/p>\n

Earlier in the day, the host had canceled a scheduled appearance at Fast Company\u2019s Innovation Festival in New York City, where he was set to join a panel titled \u201cStaying on Brand\u201d; organizers did not respond to a request for comment about the cancellation of his appearance.<\/p>\n

Seth Meyers, host of NBC\u2019s \u201cLate Night,\u201d also didn\u2019t avoid the topic. He opened his segment \u201cA Closer Look\u201d on Thursday by cracking jokes about how anything negative he\u2019s said about the president is an AI-generated deepfake. \u201cI\u2019ve always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president and even better golfer,\u201d he joked. <\/p>\n

He proceeded to show clips from Trump\u2019s recent trip to the U.K., poking fun at the president\u2019s comments and protesters who rallied against his visit. But later in the segment, Meyers\u2019 began to show clips of Trump touting his efforts to \u201cstop all government censorship\u201d and bring back free speech, before cutting to news clips about Kimmel\u2019s suspension.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump promised to end government censorship and bring back free speech, and he\u2019s doing the opposite, and it has experts worried that we\u2019re rapidly devolving into an oppressive autocracy in the style of Russia or Hungary, much faster than anyone could have predicted,\u201d Meyers continued.<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

The host also commented on his personal relationship with Kimmel, saying it\u2019s a \u201cprivilege and an honor\u201d to be his friend, in the same way he feels privileged to host his own show. \u201cI wake up every day, I count my blessings that I live in a country that at least purports to value freedom of speech, and we\u2019re going to keep doing our show the way we\u2019ve always done it, with enthusiasm and integrity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Late Show With Stephen Colbert\u201d added David Remnick, the editor in chief of the New Yorker, to its lineup Thursday, which already included CNN journalist Jake Tapper. Colbert\u2019s show generated its own headlines this summer when CBS announced<\/a> the late-night talk show would be canceled after the season wraps in May 2026<\/a> \u2014 effectively ending the franchise after 33 years on the air. The decision, the company said, was due to financial reasons rather than a response to Colbert\u2019s criticism of a deal between the Trump administration and Paramount, the parent company of CBS, the network that airs \u201cThe Late Show,\u201d as many have speculated.<\/p>\n

Colbert used his vocal talents Thursday to sing a tune about the situation, presenting a short song as a message from ABC and its parent company, Walt Disney. The song was to the tune of \u201cBe Our Guest,\u201d the \u201cBeauty and The Beast\u201d classic \u2014 except the repeating refrain is \u201cshut your trap.\u201d <\/p>\n

Colbert sings as an animated clip of the candlestick character Lumi\u00e8re from the movie plays, but he\u2019s donning a red MAGA hat here. \u201cShut your trap, we\u2019re warning you to cut the crap. Our dear leader\u2019s skin is thinner than a sheet of plastic wrap,\u201d he sings.\u201dMum\u2019s the word, have you heard, kissing a\u2014 is what\u2019s preferred. Don\u2019t insult our great dictator or he\u2019ll hit you with this turd,\u201d the song continues as a photo of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr appears on screen. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe new rule at ABC: Don\u2019t make fun of Donny T,\u201d he sings. \u201cSo don\u2019t you make a scene or mention Jeff Epstein, or your show will be scrapped \u2014 shut your trap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbert also spoke about the suspension in a monologue, reading a social media post<\/a> from Carr that said \u201cWhile this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what my community values are, buster?\u201d Colbert asked. \u201cFreedom of speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colbert discussed Kimmel\u2019s situation with Tapper, who brought up the Department of Justice\u2019s review of Disney\u2019s deal to take a controlling stake in streaming company FuboTV, which brings up potential antitrust issues. Tapper questioned what Bob Iger, Disney\u2019s chief executive, would do about Kimmel given that he has business before the Justice Department. \u201cIs he going to poke the bear, Donald Trump, or is he going to ignore this great tradition we have in this country, of not acquiescing \u2014 of media, newspapers, comedians, television \u2014 not acquiescing to power?\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly is also scheduled to appear in an episode of \u201cThe Late Show\u201d airing Monday; Kelly last appeared on the show last year ahead of the November 2024 presidential election, discussing border security and gun reform.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Thursday, while taking part in a panel conversation moderated by the Atlantic\u2019s Jeffrey Goldberg, late-night veteran David Letterman, who once helmed \u201cThe Late Show\u201d on CBS, described this week\u2019s turn of events as \u201cmisery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the world of somebody who\u2019s an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,\u201d Letterman said. He first addressed what transpired with Colbert and the cancellation of \u201cThe Late Show,\u201d alluding to political pressure as the real culprit, before addressing the decision to yank Kimmel\u2019s show. <\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel bad about this because we all see where this is going, correct?\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s managed media. And it\u2019s no good. It\u2019s silly. It\u2019s ridiculous. And you can\u2019t go around firing somebody because you\u2019re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian \u2014 a criminal \u2014 administration in the Oval Office. That\u2019s just not how this works.\u201d<\/p>\n

With three decades in the late-night circuit, Letterman never shied from mocking presidents: \u201cBeating up on these people,\u201d he said, \u201crightly or wrongly, accurately or perhaps inaccurately, in the name of comedy \u2014 not once were we squeezed by anyone from any government agency, let alone the dreaded FCC.\u201d <\/p>\n

ABC carried out the decision to take Kimmel off the air Wednesday after the comedian and host made comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk\u2019s death during his opening monologue on Monday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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,\u201d Kimmel said.<\/p>\n

Kimmel has not yet commented publicly on the matter. But his show\u2019s suspension quickly ignited fierce debate, with critics accusing ABC and its parent company, Disney, of capitulating to political pressure. Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said Wednesday that his agency might take action against ABC because of Kimmel\u2019s comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,\u201d Carr said on the Benny Johnson podcast. \u201cWe can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

President Trump lauded Kimmel\u2019s suspension in a post he wrote on his Truth Social media site: \u201cGreat News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.\u201d (The show has not been canceled, but remains on hold.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also worth noting Kimmel\u2019s outspoken daytime counterparts were mum on the issue. \u201cThe View\u2019s\u201d panelists did not address the Kimmel situation during Thursday\u2019s episode. (\u201cGood Morning America,\u201d which is produced by ABC News, did mention the news of the Kimmel hiatus without additional commentary.)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Kimmel\u2019s fictional late-night competitor, Deborah Vance, has an opinion on the ordeal \u2014 or rather, actor Jean Smart does. She may only play a late-night television host on TV, but the \u201cHacks\u201d actress was quick to share her thoughts on the decision to pull Kimmel from the air: \u201cWhat Jimmy said was FREE speech, not hate speech,\u201d Smart shared in an Instagram post. \u201cPeople seem to only want to protect free speech when its suits THEIR agenda.\u201d (Kimmel made a cameo in the recent season of \u201cHacks.\u201d)<\/p>\n

She went on to write: \u201cThought I didn\u2019t agree at ALL with Charlie Kirk; his shooting death sickened me; and should have sickened any decent human being. What is happening to our country?\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Thursday\u2019s \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d was preempted by a rerun of \u201cCelebrity Family Feud,\u201d continuing ABC\u2019s indefinite suspension…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":238094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[8811,1582,276,13140,638,57415,283,29536,10754,127271,2961,14165,224,5337,5207,13895,29833,76407,2450,4352],"class_list":{"0":"post-238093","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-abc","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-california","11":"tag-comment","12":"tag-company","13":"tag-daily-show","14":"tag-decision","15":"tag-free-speech","16":"tag-host","17":"tag-kimmel","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-late-show","20":"tag-los-angeles","21":"tag-losangeles","22":"tag-president","23":"tag-stephen-colbert","24":"tag-stewart","25":"tag-suspension","26":"tag-thursday","27":"tag-trump-administration"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115229141552147736","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/238094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}