‘If you think this is about Kimmel being cancelled - you’re missing the point’

Read time: 3 minutes

In brief:

• Jimmy Kimmel was pulled from ABC indefinitely following comments about Trump's response to the murder of Charlie Kirk. Another late night talk show host, Stephen Colbert, also removed from air in July.
• The News Agents say this is part of a “chilling pattern”, with the Trump administration previously pulling funding targeting several other organisations that criticise the administration.
• They say that media companies are enabling this pattern by settling lawsuits and paying out rather than fighting back, and that they need to get a “backbone”.

What’s the story?

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel has become the latest target in Donald Trump’s crackdown on the media in the wake of the killing of Charlie Kirk.

ABC, owned by Disney, announced that the TV host has been pulled off air indefinitely over comments he made about Donald Trump’s response to the murder of the far-right activist.

Kimmel said in his Monday night monologue: "The Maga Gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it."

He also mocked Trump’s response when a journalist asked how he was holding up in the wake of his friend’s death, after the president quickly pivoted away from answering, instead redirecting people to look at the nearby construction.

Trump celebrated the news on Truth Social, congratulating ABC for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” adding that it was “great news for America” and that Kimmel has “ZERO talent”.

“Turns out the MAGA lot do actually love cancel culture,” Emily Maitlis says on The News Agents.

Kimmel is the second prominent late night host critical of Trump to lose his position, with Stephen Colbert, who had the highest-rated late-night show on TV, taken off air in July.

“This isn't fundamentally a story about one comedian being cancelled - if you think that, you are missing the point,” Emily says.

Why this is about so much more than Jimmy Kimmel

Just days before Kimmel was cancelled, a writer for late-night talk show Last Week Tonight, Daniel O’Brien, accepted an award at the Emmys and signalled what was coming.

In his acceptance speech, O’Brien, said he shared the award with “all writers of late night political comedy,” adding, “while that is a type of show that’s allowed to exist” - cue the camera panning to Jimmy Kimmel.

“It was always coming,” Emily says.

“if it hadn't been the Charlie Kirk murder, if it hadn't been comments about Donald Trump and his grieving, it would have been something else. This is part of Project 25.”

Lewis Goodall agrees that what’s happened to Kimmel is part of a “chilling” pattern - the federal government putting pressure on media organisations to censor things they don’t like.

Since coming into office for the second time, the Trump administration has pulled federal funding NPR and PBS, two public service broadcasting companies dedicated to impartial reporting.

This week, the administration threatened The New York Times with a $15 billion lawsuit - why?

“Because they endorsed Kamala Harris, because he doesn't like their coverage,” Emily says.

It doesn’t end there - the Trump administration has also targeted non-profits, law firms and liberal organisations for expressing dissent, and taken away security for Kamala Harris and John Bolton, two figures who speak out against Trump.

“It’s example after example, where the Trump administration and Trump is choosing to use the full power of his office and the federal government to punish and sanction people and organisations who criticise him,” Lewis says.

“There is a simple word for that, and it is authoritarian. And it’s ugly, and it’s dark.”

Do media companies need to fight back?

Emily and Lewis agree that some of the fault of what’s playing out lies at the feet of media companies who need to “get a backbone” and stop giving in to Trump’s demands.

Previously, some media companies have paid Trump when he’s issued lawsuits against them. ABC paid out $15 million to Trump when he was president-elect in a defamation case against George Stephanopoulos.

“Media companies have to take a bit of responsibility here, because every time they pay out, that tells Trump that he can get them to do more. That tells Trump that they're craven,” Emily says.

“Did they get anywhere after paying up $15 billion for one interview? No, of course not.”

“It just tells Trump that they are ready to do whatever he wants. They are making things easier for him to cancel them and shut them down.”

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.