There you have it.
As of Wednesday, Kimmy Kimmel — by far Donald Trump’s fiercest late-night critic — has been cancelled with immediate effect.
Make no mistake, Kimmel wasn’t terminated because of poor ratings or a lack of critical acclaim, but because he used his platform to share opinions critical of the governing regime.
His show defined late-night comedy for two decades, but running afoul of the MAGA thought police was all it took for him to lose his job — just months after it was announced that Stephen Colbert was going to be taken off air under a similar pretense.
On this occasion, however, the network was far more transparent about its partisan motives.
Disappointingly, the suits at ABC argue Kimmel’s latest statements about the death of Charlie Kirk justified their decision, implying that the late-night host was spreading provocative rhetoric and misinformation.
“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse,” the network claimed.
As you might expect, this corporate editorializing is hardly accurate. I strongly urge everyone to listen to what Kimmel actually had to say.
“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,” Jimmy Kimmel said during his final monologue.
Later in his show, he would go into more detail about Trump’s reckless and inappropriate response to the shooting, including the president’s fixation on building a gold-plated ballroom at the White House, rather than mourning.
There was no hate, no misinformation, and no jokes glorifying violence — just a condemnation of Donald Trump’s signature hypocrisy. Kimmel was tactful, especially considering his usual style of low-brow humor.
Just a beloved comic sharing his opinion about something that happened.
And although the exact political leanings of Charlie Kirk’s assassin are not fully understood, the best reporting suggests that he was raised by a family of gun-loving conservative Christians in Utah. Based on geography alone, there’s a strong chance he voted for Trump in the past — just like the shooters behind both of the president’s assassination attempts.
Likewise, this directly contradicts early misinformation spread by MAGA extremists, including the president of the United States, that the shooter was either transgender, a person of color, or some sort of militarized far-left agent directly motivated by Democratic rhetoric.
Therefore, when it comes to political violence in this context, Kimmel’s framing was right on the money. By all accounts, he had every right to criticize Republicans for using a senseless tragedy to promote an unashamedly anti-free speech agenda.
Indeed, MAGA conservatives have done everything in their power over the past week to turn Charlie Kirk’s death into their Reichstag fire moment — or better yet, their Horst Wessel — even before there was any verifiable reporting about who the shooter was or what their motive might be.
Jimmy Kimmel’s termination is direct proof that they’re succeeding.
Plus, check out Kimmel’s heartfelt condolences to the Kirk family. Nobody could possibly spin him as being a hatemonger.
It doesn’t matter if what you’re saying is right or wrong anymore — if the president of the United States doesn’t like what you’re saying, you’re going to be shut down by his corporate accomplices.
“Insensitive” opinions are only ever acceptable if you’re wearing a red hat or inciting rioters to beat police officers over the head with MAGA flags. Otherwise, any minor breach of decorum or civility is unacceptable.
Fox News pundits can glorify violence against Democratic lawmakers all day long — or even support the systematic execution of every homeless or mentally ill person in America — but once you share an unwelcome, albeit logical opinion about a conservative martyr, you’re done.
Just imagine if the tables were turned and Fox News had decided to cancel Greg Gutfeld or Jesse Watters at Joe Biden’s or Kamala Harris’s direction — Trump’s supporters would have (perhaps rightfully) lost their minds.
While that sounds unimaginable, this is exactly what has happened to Kimmel and Colbert, and we’re all just supposed to accept that.
This is what cancel culture really looks like.
When Trump returned to power in January, I suspected that Kimmel and other anti-authoritarian truth-tellers would eventually be shut down, but I never expected the corporate capitulation to happen this quickly.
It was my personal bellwether for shit hitting the fan, and here it is.
The Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, Disney, Paramount — everywhere you look, the corporate media has systematically endorsed MAGA-sympathizing narratives with a zero-tolerance policy for insubordination.
Eugenics, racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia are all sacred topics, but speaking truth to power is a bridge too far. Tow the official narrative, or find yourself out of a job — and that extends to academia.
Corporate media is state-run media, and it took less than a year.
Independent journalists are more important than ever, so support them.
Let me tell you, if Jimmy Kimmel and Colbert joined together to start a joint podcast, they would put Joe Rogan’s viewership to shame.