Obama urges media companies to "start standing up" to Trump after Kimmel's show suspensionShow Caption
Former President Barack Obama urged media companies to resist pressure from the Trump administration.ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel's show after he made comments linking the man accused of fatally shooting Charlie Kirk to the MAGA movement.President Donald Trump celebrated the show's suspension and called for other late-night hosts to be taken off the air.Former President Barack Obama took to social media to urge media companies to stop giving in to the Trump administration after ABC suspended late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" in the wake of conservative activist Charlie Kirk's fatal shooting."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," Obama wrote in a post on X on Sept. 18."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," Obama said in a follow-up X post, linking to a New York Times article about the firing of Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah, who said she was let go for her comments on social media after Kirk's death.Obama’s comments came after the Walt Disney-owned network confirmed it had indefinitely suspended Kimmel's show following comments the comedian made during his Sept. 15 episode regarding Kirk's killing.President Donald Trump celebrated the removal."Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump said in a Sept. 17 Truth Social post. "Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT."White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told USA TODAY on Sept. 18 that while Kimmel can say what he wants, broadcasters don't have to air it."This has nothing to do with free speech – low-ratings loser Jimmy Kimmel is free to spew whatever bad jokes he wants, but a private company is under no obligation to provide him a platform to do so," Jackson said in an emailed statement.However, Kimmel's ratings rank second among late-night hosts to CBS's Stephen Colbert. CBS announced in July that Colbert's show will end next year. The top Hollywood writers' union called for an investigation into that decision, suggesting it might have been intended to placate Trump because CBS's parent company, Paramount, was seeking government approval of a merger − and Colbert frequently mocks the president.The fallout and ABC's subsequent pre-emption of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" came after Kimmel's comments on accused shooter Tyler Robinson during his opening monologue that appeared to align Robinson with the MAGA movement."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 and doing everything they can to score political points from it," Kimmel said.Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr condemned Kimmel's comments on conservative commentator Benny Johnson's podcast on Sept. 17. Carr apparently threatened ABC and Disney, calling Kimmel's remarks "a very, very serious issue," adding that "We can do this the easy way or the hard way.""Disney needs to see some change here, but the individual licensed stations that are taking their content, it's time for them to step up and say this, you know, garbage to the extent that that's what comes down the pipe in the future isn't something that we think serves the needs of our local communities," Carr said.ABC decided to suspend Kimmel's show after the Nexstar Media Group announced on Sept. 17 that it was pulling the show from its 32 ABC affiliates, citing Kimmel's comments about Kirk's tragedy. Nexstar is seeking regulatory approval from the Trump administration as the broadcaster wants to buy rival TEGNA in a deal reportedly worth $6.2 billion. The Sinclair Broadcast Group also announced its intention to replace Kimmel's ABC timeslot with a remembrance special honoring Kirk on Sept. 19. The special will air on all Sinclair stations and be offered to ABC affiliates nationwide, the broadcast company added.
