In the past few months, America has seen a trend of First Amendment rights being violated. After the killing of Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10, many journalists and entertainers have been sharing their opinions on the situation, as well as on gun violence in America. Due to this, several talk shows are being cancelled, such as the Jimmy Kimmel show, and writers are being fired due to their opinions on certain topics (a Washington Post columnist being fired over posts made regarding Charlie Kirk’s killing, for example).
Created on Sept. 25, 1789 and ratified on Dec. 15, 1791, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
On Sept. 15, during Kimmel’s monologue on the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” show, he made several comments regarding the situation with Charlie Kirk. “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,” said Kimmel. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this.”
After these comments, Kimmel proceeded to show a clip of President Donald Trump answering a reporter’s question about how he was holding up after the death of Charlie Kirk. Trump replied, “I think [I’m] very good. And by the way, right there you see all the trucks. They’ve just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House, which is something they’ve been trying to get, as you know, for about 150 years, and it’s going to be a beauty.”
Kimmel reacted to this clip, saying, “Yes. He’s at the fourth stage of grief, construction. Demolition. Construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
His comments led to an allegation from Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, accusing Kimmel of “the sickest conduct possible.”
On Wednesday, Sept. 17, following Kimmel’s comments, ABC stated that it had pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air.
Following this announcement, there was an uproar among Hollywood stars and fans of the show. Actress Jean Smart posted a photo to instagram of her with Kimmel, saying she was “horrified” by the show’s cancellation.
Actor Ben Stiller wrote on the social media platform X, “This isn’t right.”
Comedian and podcaster Marc Maron took to Instagram. “If you have any concern or belief in real freedom or the constitution and free speech, this is it,” he said. “This is the deciding moment, this is what authoritarianism looks like in this country, it’s happening.”
The show was brought back on Sept. 23, but it was initially not shown everywhere. Two big TV station owners, “Nexstar” and “Sinclair,” decided to block the show from more than a quarter of ABC affiliates. Cities like Portland, OR, Seattle, WA, Harrisburg, PA, New Orleans, LA, and others weren’t able to watch the show.
The show has since been brought back entirely on Sept. 26. According to experts, ABC’s) The decision to bring back “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was likely driven by business interests, as many people had ended their subscriptions to Disney’s streaming services following the cancellation of the show. “Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience,” Sinclair, one of the broadcast station owners that originally took “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air, according to a statement from Sept. 26.
6.3 million viewers watched Kimmel’s return on the evening of Sept. 23, tripling the show’s regular number of viewers.
