One Theory About Kimmel Cancellation Has To Do With Major Media Merger

As the shock dies down about “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” being suspended until further notice, industry insiders are circulating theories as to why this happened now, when leftists have been left unchecked for years to spread lies about conservatives.

While the Left cries about “free speech” and “cancel culture,” and blames the whole thing on Trump, the truth appears to be a lot more of a logical business decision than it is a massive conspiracy.

The New York Post noted on Thursday that Nexstar, one of the massive media companies behind Kimmel’s cancellation, is poised to enter into a $6.2 billion merger with its next-biggest rival, Tegna. The move will be closely watched by the FCC, as it could be seen as violating antitrust laws.

Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said Kimmel’s comments were “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”

The outlet noted how FCC Chairman Brendan Carr was furious over Kimmel’s statements, telling conservative podcast host Benny Johnson that Kimmel’s comments represented “some of the sickest conduct possible,” and that there could be “a path forward for suspension over this.”

“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,” Carr said. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

“Clearly, Nexstar is sucking up to Carr,” a telecom lawyer told Fox News correspondent Charles Gasparino on Wednesday. “Kimmel’s comments are noxious, but from a First Amendment standpoint, they would have been protected in the past. He’s a comedian, so how is he distorting the news unless you have a deal to be approved by the FCC?”

Reactions online have been divided on partisan lines, with the Left freaking out over censorship and the Right insisting this is the standard that was set long ago by the same leftists who now oppose it.

The comments from Kimmel that prompted the backlash included the host claiming that Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter. Investigators say that the 22-year-old man arrested for Kirk’s killing was deeply steeped in leftist ideology and disliked the conservative commentator for his beliefs.

“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,” Kimmel said during his show.

This prompted Sinclair, another major media group, to suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live” until further notice.

There’s been a big shakeup in the media since the Trump administration took over. George Cheeks, the president and CEO of CBS, discussed the cancellation of “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert in July 2025. His statements came on the same day that Paramount Global and Skydance Media finalized their $8.4 billion merger.

“The challenge in late night is that the advertising marketplace is in significant secular decline,” Cheeks said following the deal closing, as The Daily Wire previously reported. “We are huge fans of Colbert, we love the show, unfortunately the economics made it a challenge for us to keep going.”

Also in July, Paramount Global agreed to a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit Trump had brought that accused the media outlet of election interference. The lawsuit stemmed from an interview CBS News’ “60 Minutes” conducted with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris one month before the 2024 election. The lawsuit alleged that the interview was edited to make it seem more coherent than it really was.