The hosts of ABC’s The View took aim at the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! during Monday’s episode, and the White House was quick to retaliate. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung slammed both shows in a statement to Entertainment Weekly, just as ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel’s show would be returning to the air.
The controversy surrounding Kimmel began last Wednesday, September 17, following the September 10 assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. During his monologue, Kimmel remarked:
“We had 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 with everything they can to score political points from it.”
Kimmel’s comments didn’t go unnoticed by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr, who, while appearing on a podcast, suggested that the FCC could revoke the licenses of ABC affiliate stations. These comments prompted at least two broadcast companies that own ABC affiliates to put Kimmel’s show on hold. The move to indefinitely cancel Jimmy Kimmel Live! sparked outrage from viewers and other media personalities, with The View hosts speaking out on the issue during Monday’s episode.
‘The View’ Responds, White House Issues Scathing Response
During the September 22nd episode of The View, co-host Whoopi Goldberg began the show’s Hot Topics segment by asking:
“Did y’all really think we weren’t going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel? I mean, have you watched the show over the last 29 seasons? No one silences us.”
She also explained why they hadn’t addressed the suspension earlier:
“When the news broke last week about Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, we took a breath to see if Jimmy was going to say anything about it first. We did the same thing with Stephen Colbert. Then our show was on tape on Friday. But we are live here today and we’re getting into it now.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin spoke about the importance of freedom of speech, adding that “our democracy and our founders were very, very clear on that,” and the First Amendment had been drafted to “protect the rights of citizens who criticize the government.” Ana Navarro drew a comparison between the Trump administration’s attacks on the press and dictatorial regimes. Likening the situation to her experiences with the government in Nicaragua, she warned:
“It does not matter the ideology. At first, they come for the people with big platforms. At first, they silence the press. But then they come for all of us. Because their intent is to scare us into silence and self-censorship.”
The White House was quick to respond to their comments, and Cheung did not hold back, slamming Kimmel and The View:
“Jimmy Kimmel is a no-talent loser who has beclowned himself with tanking ratings and by spewing disgusting lies to his audience. That’s why the network kicked him to the curb like a used empty beer can. Similarly, The View is also devoid of actual talent, and is a collection of irrelevant has-beens and never-beens that nobody with any commonsense [sic] would ever watch unless it was to laugh at them.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is set to return to television tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23, putting an end to the “indefinite” suspension.
- Release Date
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August 11, 1997
- Network
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ABC
- Writers
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Barbara Walters
