Conan O’Brien is condemning ABC’s suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after pressure from the Trump-aligned Federal Communications Commission chair on local broadcasters that aired the program.
Kimmel had criticized the right-wing response to last week’s fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, leading to what an ABC spokesperson told HuffPost is an “indefinite” leave — a move celebrated by President Donald Trump. Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owners of local TV stations in the U.S., had said they would pull the show after conservative uproar and a threat of action by FCC chair Brendan Carr.
O’Brien, a former late night host himself, reacted Friday on X, formerly Twitter.
“The suspension of @jimmykimmel and the promise to silence other Late Night hosts for criticizing the administration should disturb everyone on the Right, Left, and Center,” O’Brien wrote Friday. “It’s wrong and anyone with a conscience knows it’s wrong.”
Trump applauded Kimmel’s suspension just as he did when CBS canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” earlier this year. In a post Wednesday on his Truth Social platform, the president congratulated ABC for their “courage” and urged NBC to follow suit.
