Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said he and other members of the company are glad Jimmy Kimmel was put back on the air because it ensures he no longer has “martyr” status.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t want Jimmy Kimmel to be a martyr. He doesn&#8217;t deserve it. He&#8217;s a liar, he&#8217;s an unrepentant liar, but he should not be considered a martyr by anybody,&#8221; Kolvet <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/turning-point-didnt-want-jimmy-kimmel-canceled-because-abcs-liar-doesnt-deserve-martyr">told</a> Fox News Digital in a newly published interview.
Kimmel’s late night show was suspended for less than a week after comments he made about the assassination of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk on September 10. This led to the Left having absolute meltdowns about free speech and suggesting that the Trump administration had orchestrated the show’s suspension.
Kolvet says the best way to deal with someone like Kimmel is to let them keep lying and keep getting terrible ratings, which will eventually lead to their shows getting canceled.
&#8220;It&#8217;s important that when people lie, and they lie in that type of setting and that platform about such a huge event, that there are real consequences. And I think the best consequence would be that people just tune out,&#8221; he told the outlet. &#8220;People refuse to watch a liar on TV and that when the ratings come up and the P&amp;L statement, ABC reviews it, that they just say, ‘Hey, this isn&#8217;t worth continuing.’&#8221;
&#8220;When that happens, I don&#8217;t think that he&#8217;s gonna be able to blame us for it. I think he&#8217;s just gonna have to blame himself and his own choices, and when that happens, I&#8217;m not gonna be sad about it,&#8221; Kolvet added.
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Kimmel’s return last Tuesday evening drew a record-breaking 6.3 million viewers, more than triple his regular audience. By Thursday, those numbers had <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-kimmels-ratings-spike-crashes-back-down-to-his-usual-terrible-numbers?author=Amanda+Harding&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Jimmy+Kimmel%E2%80%99s+Ratings+Spike+Crashes+Back+Down+To+His+Usual+Terrible+Numbers">dropped by 64%</a>, leveling off at 2.3 million.
Kolvet said he’s been most upset to hear the narrative that political violence is &#8220;equally as extreme whether it&#8217;s on the Right or the Left.&#8221;
&#8220;I think that&#8217;s why I keyed in on the Jimmy Kimmel saga because he tried to lie to his audience and tell us that it was actually somebody from the Right that killed Charlie and that&#8217;s just simply not true,&#8221; Kolvet said.
&#8220;There&#8217;s no facts that back that up,&#8221; he told Fox News Digital. &#8220;And that strikes me as a really fundamental problem because … if you feel you can go into that platform and lie brazenly … that says that you don&#8217;t care about us as humans. That tells me that you think that we are worth smearing, slandering, lying about and dehumanizing people. And that&#8217;s how we get this violence in the first place.&#8221;
The saga began last month when Kimmel was accused of slandering conservatives when he suggested Kirk’s assassin was part of the “MAGA gang,” despite authorities saying otherwise. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said at the time.
While the host addressed the controversy during his return monologue, many viewers, including Kolvet, found his comments to be insincere. The TPUSA spokesperson called Kimmel an “unrepentant liar.”

Jimmy Kimmel

Turning Point Spokesman Says He’s Glad ‘Liar’ Kimmel Is Back On TV So He’s Not A ‘Martyr’

Charlie Kirk

Entertainment

Television

Turning Point USA

U.S.

Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t help but gloat about his post-suspension viewership spike, going so far as to publicly thank President Donald Trump for making it all possible. But after a very brief ratings boost, those numbers have come crashing back down to normal.
The ABC late-night host was temporarily taken off the air after comments he made about assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk. After a suspension that lasted less than a week, Kimmel returned to the air with a tearful non-apology, whining about how his words must have been misconstrued.
Kimmel’s return last Tuesday evening drew a record-breaking 6.3 million viewers, more than triple his regular audience. By Thursday, those numbers had dropped by 64%, leveling off at 2.3 million.
In the coveted demographic of viewers aged 25-54, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” dropped from 1.7 million viewers on Tuesday to 465,000 on Thursday, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/09/29/media/jimmy-kimmel-sheds-64-of-audience-after-short-lived-ratings-spike-following-suspension/">The New York Post</a>.
The saga began earlier this month when Kimmel was accused of slandering conservatives when he suggested Kirk’s assassin was part of the “MAGA gang,” despite authorities saying otherwise. “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said at the time.
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While the host addressed the controversy during his return monologue, many viewers found his comments to be insincere, noting that he stopped short of apologizing for what he had said.
“Kimmel is an unrepentant liar who tried to blame Charlie’s assassination on the part of the country that just spent the last 2 weeks praying and holding vigils,” Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet said in response, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unrepentant-liar-charlie-kirks-team-is-not-buying-jimmy-kimmels-crocodile-tears">reported</a>. “What he’s really saying is that he still thinks it’s fair game to slander conservatives. He would rather advance his own political and cultural agenda than confront the truth.”
Kolvet added, “It’s critical that liars admit they lied. There can be no restoration without that. Anything short of that is a fake and scripted cry line designed to endear him to his fans, not to make right the wrong he committed.”
The Left is exploiting Kimmel’s suspension to push the narrative that free speech is under siege and to fault the Trump administration for silencing critics. But others have noted how ABC made a business decision to suspend Kimmel, which they were well within their rights to do.

Jimmy Kimmel’s Ratings Spike Crashes Back Down To His Usual Terrible Numbers

Jimmy Kimmel Viewership Spike Crashes Back Down To Terrible Numbers As Usual

Donald Trump

Media

The National Security Advisor during President Donald Trump&#8217;s first term said he was asked to go on CBS&#8217;s “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert in 2024, but only if he would denounce Trump and tell the audience not to vote for him.
Retired United States Army Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster made the revelation during a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OAiiaiGMVI&amp;list=PLKruweaZqDNetb7uwJF1vS0mzmaTe8Kzg&amp;index=1">episode</a> of the GoodFellows podcast, a weekly Hoover Institution broadcast. Moderator Bill Whalen mentioned that late shows have “drifted to the Left,” which prompted McMaster&#8217;s response.
“When my book ‘At War With Ourselves’ came out, my publicist said, &#8216;Hey, you know, the Stephen Colbert show said you could come on, but if you come on you have to condemn President Trump and recommend that nobody vote for him,&#8217;” McMaster said.
The retired lieutenant general said it was an “easy choice” to decide against the appearance, but noted how it points to the political sway of late-night programs in general.
“I don’t know if it was just a producer or if it was Stephen Colbert directly, but you know, there has been this orthodoxy that has gripped late-night television. So many of these monologues, honestly…they’re just like diatribes. They’re not funny. Which might be why the ratings are going down.”
The controversy over late-night shows and free speech has reached a fever pitch, with leftists crying &#8220;censorship&#8221; and conservatives pointing out that this has been happening to right-wing entertainers for years. ABC&#8217;s late-night host, Jimmy Kimmel, was briefly taken off the air for spreading false information about Charlie Kirk&#8217;s suspected assassin.
All the other major late-night hosts, including Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Jon Stewart, spoke out in support of Kimmel, but are being labeled as hypocrites by anyone who noticed that they had previously been in favor of conservatives being silenced for perceived slights. 
Clips of Kimmel joking about Roseanne Barr&#8217;s show getting canceled for controversial comments went viral just after he was suspended, with followers pointing out the blatant hypocrisy. Kimmel can also be seen celebrating President Trump being banned from X and Tucker Carlson getting fired from Fox News.
McMaster said the answer isn’t government “crackdowns,” but letting low ratings bury the shows.
Representatives from &#8216;The Late Show&#8217; did not respond to a request for comment.

Donald Trump/Stephen Colbert

Free Speech? Former White House Official Says Colbert Would Only Book Him If He Trashed Trump

Former White House Official Says Colbert Would Only Book Him If He Trashed Trump

Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster

Politics

Stephen Colbert

Apple TV is postponing a scheduled series that focused on domestic terrorism due to the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, leaving the audience to speculate what was in the series that would have been so damaging to release.
“The Savant,” a scripted series starring Jessica Chastain, was initially slated to premiere on Friday.
 “After careful consideration, we have made the decision to postpone The Savant,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement, per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/apple-tv-plus-delays-the-savant-after-charlie-kirk-murder-1236378128/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>. “We appreciate your understanding and look forward to releasing the series at a future date.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Savant — Official Trailer | Apple TV+" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UYQiGBupM8I?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
The show has been in the works for two years. It draws inspiration from the 2019 Cosmopolitan article, “<a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a28483247/is-it-possible-to-stop-a-mass-shooting-before-it-happens/">Is It Possible to Stop a Mass Shooting Before It Happens?</a>” The piece is about an investigator referred to as “The Savant,” who stops violent men from carrying out attacks before they occur.
The show deals with politically motivated attacks, though it appears likely that it was more focused on political violence from the Right side of the political spectrum. The article the show is based on makes numerous mentions of the &#8220;alt-right&#8221; and &#8220;white supremacists.&#8221; The man accused of murdering Kirk, Tyler Robinson, was reportedly living with a transgender-identifying male partner, with Utah Republican Governor Spencer Cox saying that the suspect was “deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology.”
Chastain, who also serves as executive producer, says she disagrees with the decision to postpone the show. 
“I want to say how much I value my partnership with Apple. They’ve been incredible collaborators and I deeply respect their team,” Chastain wrote. “That said, I wanted to reach out and let you know that we’re not aligned on the decision to pause the release of The Savant.”
“In the last five years since we’ve been making the show, we’ve seen an unfortunate amount of violence in the United States,” she wrote, going on to list various events, including January 6 and the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump. 
“These incidents, though far from encompassing the full range of violence witnessed in the United States, illustrate a broader mindset that crosses the political spectrum and must be confronted. I’ve never shied away from difficult subjects, and while I wish this show wasn’t so relevant, unfortunately it is. The Savant is about the heroes who work every day to stop violence before it happens, and honoring their courage feels more urgent than ever.”
“While I respect Apple’s decision to pause the release for now, I remain hopeful the show will reach audiences soon. Until then, I’m wishing safety and strength for everyone, and I’ll let you know if and when The Savant is released,” she concluded.

The_Savant_Photo_010301

Apple Postpones Drama On Political Mass Shootings Following Charlie Kirk Assassination

Apple

Political Violence

Late night host Jimmy Kimmel made his return to television Tuesday night after almost one week of suspension.
He started out his monologue by thanking the audience and other late night hosts and fans for reaching out during his suspension.
Kimmel also addressed the comments that got him suspended in the first place &#8212; though notably, he never actually apologized.
“It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said as he started becoming visibly emotional. “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it … nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for what was the actions … of an obviously deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make. But I understand that to some that felt either ill timed or unclear or maybe both, and to those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset.”
“I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. I think this was a sick person who believed violence was a solution,” he added.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-true-bunch-of-losers-trump-rips-into-abc-for-ending-jimmy-kimmel-suspension">&#8216;A True Bunch Of Losers&#8217;: Trump Rips Into ABC For Ending Jimmy Kimmel Suspension</a>
Kimmel went on a rant about free speech, said it was “un-American” to take certain shows off the air, then equated his show being removed with Stephen Colbert’s “The Tonight Show” getting canceled, despite indications that the two situations were totally different.
The late night host went hard after President Trump, accusing him of not being able to “take a joke” and saying he wanted most late night shows to get canceled. Meanwhile, he played a clip of Trump saying he believed Kimmel had “no talent” as a way to prove that the president was trying to control free speech.
Later in the monologue, Kimmel also mentioned Kirk’s widow, Erika, forgiving her husband’s assassin during the memorial service over the weekend. Kimmel got emotional again when discussing her speech, calling her act of forgiveness “a selfless act of grace.” 
“That is an example we should follow,” Kimmel said.
The entertainment industry was in an uproar after Kimmel’s show was taken off the air last week over statements he made about the man who assassinated Charlie Kirk.
Even though “Jimmy Kimmel Live” came back Tuesday night, it was limited in distribution and still preempted in certain markets.
That’s because major media players Sinclair and Nexstar both announced they still would not be airing new episodes of Kimmel’s show. The two broadcast companies own or control nearly 80 ABC affiliates between them.
While Nexstar called Kimmel’s comments about Kirk’s alleged killer “ill-timed and insensitive,” Disney backtracked on their original stance after enduring days of extreme backlash from fans and celebrities.
&#8220;We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,&#8221; Disney said earlier this week.
Kimmel was taken off the air due to comments he made about the accused assassin of 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,” Kimmel said at the time.
&nbsp;

JIMMY KIMMEL

Jimmy Kimmel Returns, Addresses Charlie Kirk Comments In Teary Non-Apology

Broadcasting

Sinclair Broadcasting Group doubled down on Monday, saying that despite an agreement reached earlier in the day by ABC and late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel, their ABC affiliates would not air &#8220;Jimmy Kimmel Live&#8221; when it returns to ABC on Tuesday.
Sinclair owns nearly 40 ABC affiliates across the country — including one in the nation&#8217;s capital — and while those affiliates will preempt Kimmel&#8217;s show for the time being, the broadcasting group released a statement indicating that a deal could be reached in the future.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return. <a href="https://t.co/beGC6VID2x">pic.twitter.com/beGC6VID2x</a>
— Sinclair, Inc. (@WeAreSinclair) <a href="https://twitter.com/WeAreSinclair/status/1970266039532306593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 22, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,&#8221; the statement read.
Sinclair&#8217;s statement came just hours after ABC parent-company Disney announced that Kimmel&#8217;s show would <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disney-caves-will-let-jimmy-kimmel-return-to-air-on-tuesday">return on Tuesday</a> after several days off the air.
&#8220;Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,&#8221; a spokesperson for Disney <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/disney-announces-jimmy-kimmel-live-returning-tuesday-after-suspension">told</a> Fox News Digital.
Kimmel landed in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abc-pulls-jimmy-kimmels-late-night-show-indefinitely-after-charlie-kirk-comments" target="_blank" rel="noopener">timeout</a> several days earlier after backlash over comments he made about the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
&#8220;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,” <a href="https://x.com/newsbusters/status/1967982924986487284" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Kimmel at the time.
Shortly after his comments went viral, both Nexstar and Sinclair announced plans to preempt the comedian&#8217;s show. The two broadcast companies own or control nearly 80 ABC affiliates between them.

UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation’s 28th Annual Taste For A Cure

Sinclair Broadcast Group Doubles Down, Still Refuses To Air ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’

Sinclair Broadcast Group Doubles Down, Still Refuses To Air 'Jimmy Kimmel Live'

“Jimmy Kimmel Live” will return to the air on Tuesday after being suspended last week, Disney announced on Monday.
&#8220;Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,&#8221; a Disney spokesperson <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/disney-announces-jimmy-kimmel-live-returning-tuesday-after-suspension">told</a> Fox News Digital in a statement.
Kimmel’s suspension caused a complete uproar in the Hollywood community and across social media as critics accused the network of “censorship” and squashing free speech.
The comments from Kimmel that prompted the suspension included the host falsely claiming that Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter. Investigators say that Tyler Robinson, 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 last week.
The late-night host’s suspension came amid pressure from broadcast companies that own ABC affiliates, including Nexstar and Sinclair, who pulled the show from their stations.
Last Wednesday, FCC chair Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel’s comments, leading many to assume that Kimmel’s show was pulled due to government pressure.
Multiple petitions and protests were ongoing. Kimmel made no public statements, but was seen visiting his attorney, per multiple reports. Other late night hosts came out with full fury in support of their colleague, with Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, and others saying the suspension was wrong.
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner also came out publicly against the suspension.
Meanwhile, many people observed that Kimmel’s ratings have been less than stellar for a while, leading them to speculate that the suspension was about more than a single issue.

Disney Caves, Will Let Jimmy Kimmel Return To Air On Tuesday

comedian

Disney

After Jimmy Kimmel’s show was suspended on Wednesday over his false claim about Charlie Kirk’s assassin, early reports suggested the move was tied directly to the comments. Later details, however, revealed that a major factor was Kimmel’s planned follow-up statement for the next broadcast.
Kimmel had stated in his monologue, “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.”
According to <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/how-jimmy-kimmel-benched-by-disney-dana-walden-1236374959/">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR) — which had reported on Wednesday that Kimmel had no intention of apologizing — an inside source said that Disney wanted Kimmel to “take down the temperature,” but Kimmel planned to “fan the flames with the MAGA fan base.” A source with Kimmel’s show contended that the late-night host wasn’t planning on “making it worse,” but that he simply “wasn’t kowtowing” to the furor surrounding his initial comments.
“Inside of ABC, ‘multiple conversations’ with Kimmel were had at the ‘executive level,’” an inside source told THR, which reported, “The execs wanted to know: How was Kimmel going to address the situation on Wednesday night’s show? The answer was not satisfactory to management, sources say.” THR added, “Talks between Kimmel and Disney/ABC hit enough of a stalemate that executives there decided Wednesday’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! had run out of time to be salvaged.”
CNN Entertainment Correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister on Thursday <a href="https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cg/date/2025-09-18/segment/02">offered</a> some further inside information, stating:
<blockquote>
Jimmy wanted to go on his show last night. And in his monologue, I hear that he wanted to address the backlash from the right regarding his commentary about Charlie Kirk&#8217;s charged killer. And I hear that that monologue was very hot. It very much took aim at MAGA, and that is when the executive said, we can&#8217;t have him go on the air tonight. Now, I want to read you one quote from a source, Phil. They said, “If Jimmy went on the air, there would&#8217;ve been no way back from that monologue for Jimmy. We didn&#8217;t want that. Everyone deeply values him and wants him to come back, but he has to take down the temperature.”
</blockquote>

What Really Got Kimmel Suspended? ‘I Hear That That Monologue Was Very Hot’

MAGA

suspension

2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards

Jimmy Kimmel Defamed Charlie Kirk And His Supporters. Now He’s Off The Air. Good Riddance.

Cancel Culture

Comedy

Democrats

George Soros

Leftists

Matt Walsh

Opinion

Sinclair, one of the largest broadcast companies in the United States, said Wednesday night that it would air a special tribute to Charlie Kirk this Friday in the late-night time slot that Jimmy Kimmel’s show had occupied. 
The announcement came after ABC pulled Kimmel off the air in response to remarks he made about the recent assassination of Kirk in Utah last week. Kimmel’s preemption came just hours after FCC Chair Brendan Carr warned that his agency could take action against ABC affiliates airing Kimmel’s remarks, arguing they failed to serve the public interest.
“Sinclair’s ABC stations will air a special in remembrance of Charlie Kirk this Friday, during the Jimmy Kimmel Live! Timeslot,” the broadcasting company <a href="https://x.com/WeAreSinclair/status/1968471160359645658">said</a>. “The special will also air across all Sinclair stations this weekend. In addition, Sinclair is offering the special to all ABC affiliates across the country.”
Sinclair is the largest ABC affiliate group in the country and plans to keep the suspension in place until it has further talks with ABC. It has ABC affiliates in several cities, including Washington, D.C., Seattle, and Tulsa.
“Sinclair will not lift the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability. Sinclair also called upon Mr. Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family. Furthermore, Sinclair asks Mr. Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA,” the company said. 
ABC’s preemption of Kimmel’s show came as Nexstar, another major ABC affiliate owner, declared it would remove the program from its schedule following the host’s remarks about Kirk.
The comments from Kimmel that prompted the backlash included the host claiming that Kirk&#8217;s assassin was a Donald Trump 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,” <a href="https://x.com/newsbusters/status/1967982924986487284">said</a> Kimmel.
Carr praised both Sinclair and Nexstar for their decisions to stop broadcasting Kimmel’s show.
&#8220;Broadcasters have long retained the right to not air national programs that they believe are inconsistent with the public interest, including their local communities’ values,&#8221; Carr said Thursday. &#8220;I am glad to see that many broadcasters are responding to their viewers as intended.&#8221;
Democrats have criticized ABC&#8217;s decision to remove Kimmel from the air, arguing it constitutes an attack on &#8220;free speech.&#8221;
&#8220;America is meant to be a bastion of free speech. Everybody across the political spectrum should be speaking out to stop what’s happening to Jimmy Kimmel. This is about protecting democracy,&#8221; said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY).

Political Activist Charlie Kirk Shot Dead At Utah Valley University

Broadcast Giant To Air Charlie Kirk Tribute In Place Of Jimmy Kimmel On Its ABC Stations

HBO Max will commemorate the second anniversary of the Hamas October 7 terrorist attack on Israel by airing the scripted series, “One Day in October.”
The limited series is based on real accounts from the horrific attack in 2023, which resulted in the massacre of more than 1,200 Israelis and hundreds of others being taken hostage. It first premiered on Israeli network Yes Drama on the first anniversary of the coordinated raid.
The project is said to include “seven emotionally gripping and artistically interwoven narratives of love, courage, sacrifice, and survival. From families torn apart to moments of hope emerging in the face of unspeakable tragedy to incredible bravery against the odds, each episode reveals the human cost and resilience born out of chaos. The series portrays the victims’ and survivors’ experiences of that day and is brought to life by a distinguished cast and acclaimed creative team,” per <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/hbo-hamas-israel-one-day-in-october-7-series-1236372113/">The Hollywood Reporter</a>.
FOX Entertainment Studios President Fernando Szew said of the series, “The tragic events on October 7th had a profound impact on all of us. From the very beginning, we approached this series with the utmost care, sensitivity, and urgency to ensure that the stories were told with authenticity and respect, and paying homage to the victims and the heroic survivors.” 
Szew added that the creators “have truly created compelling storytelling that we are proud to showcase.”
“For me, film and television have always been more than entertainment, they are a way to bear witness. These are stories of ordinary people facing extraordinary moments,” Daniel Finkelman, founder of the production company Sparks Go, said. “In a time when truth is fragile, the most powerful thing we can do is to appeal to humanity itself. My hope is that these stories will open hearts and spark meaningful conversation.”
Last year, Finkelman discussed what compelled him to make the series. 
“After Oct. 7, I realized that when you know what you are willing to die for, you know what you are ready to live for,” he <a href="https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-822942">said</a>, per The Jerusalem Post. “I realized what we are fighting for.”
“We’re being shown real footage on the news of people being abducted and no one gives a f***,” the producer added. “So we thought, let’s tell the narrative the way people like to be entertained.”
The cast includes actors Swell Ariel Or, Noa Kedar, Naomi Levov, Hisham Sulliman, Wael Hamdun, and Yuval Semo.

HBO Max Announces Series Dramatizing Hamas’s Oct. 7 Terror Attack On Israel

Hamas

Israel

October 7

World

Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel cleared a very low bar when it came to their comments on the murder of conservative superstar Charlie Kirk.
They said all the right things about the assassination. It was the least they could have done.
Kimmel touched on “gun violence,” but kept the messaging to a minimum via his <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOb8B9xjgZJ/">Instagram feed</a>.
<blockquote>Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.</blockquote>
Colbert <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2025/09/11/charlie-kirk-death-stephen-colbert-jimmy-kimmel/86089661007/">addressed</a> the assassination on-air:
<blockquote>Our condolences go out to his family and all of his loved ones … I&#8217;m old enough to personally remember the political violence of the 1960s, and I hope it is obvious to everyone in America that political violence does not solve any of our political differences. Political violence only leads to more political violence.</blockquote>
Good. And better than <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/if-hes-not-fired-this-doesnt-matter-msnbc-trashed-over-charlie-kirk-coverage-lame-apology?author=Virginia+Kruta&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=13&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=MSNBC+Trashed+Over+Lame+Apology+After+Commentator+Suggests+Charlie+Kirk+Assassination+Was+Justified">some MSNBC pundits</a> or Democrats who quickly used Kirk’s passing as <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/jb-pritzker-condemns-political-violence-after-charlie-kirks-death-says-trumps-rhetoric-often-foments-it">another cudgel</a> against President Donald Trump.
But wait.
It’s not an accident that the shooter reportedly carved hard-left, anti-fascist, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/details-revealed-about-suspected-charlie-kirk-assassins-leftist-ideology">messages</a> on his bullet casings. More importantly, why would anyone want to kill a God-fearing conservative who specialized in having cordial debates with those who don’t agree with his worldview?
Kirk stared down unhinged college students, calmly letting them speak before deftly deconstructing their arguments. He didn’t shout or belittle them. He wanted to make a connection, to share why he feels the way he feels.
Is that the MAGA image Colbert and Kimmel invoke from their bully pulpits? Hardly. And while you’re at it, what about Seth Meyers or John Oliver? These hard-Left comedians don’t simply traffic in political satire. They use their platforms to savage all things conservative.
<div id="attachment_468177" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-468177" class="size-large wp-image-468177" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-866x576.jpg" alt="" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-2048x1363.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2022/11/GettyImages-1242055992-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" />Photo by Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty Images</div>
They manipulate facts and feast on hoaxes — Russian collusion, anyone? They pounce on news stories that quickly prove to be incorrect: The strike on <a href="https://www.tvinsider.com/1199026/stephen-colbert-trump-f-bomb-rant-monologue-video/">Iran’s nuclear weapons</a> program did zero damage, right?
While Bill Maher offers left-leaning monologues with balance and bite, Colbert and co. go scorched earth. Nightly. Their comedy routines paint President Trump and anyone on his MAGA train in the most unflattering terms possible.
“[If You] ‘have to tell people I’m not Hitler, something is wrong,” Kimmel once said in a typical attack.
Colbert routinely plays a similar card, <a href="https://www.aol.com/stephen-colbert-says-kelly-hitler-142733106.html">feasting on wobbly news articles</a> to buttress his points.
Hilarious.
Kimmel infamously cried, on air, the night after President Trump won re-election late last year. Between sobs, he described a frightening scenario under Trump 2.0.
<blockquote>It was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hard-working immigrants who make this country go, for health care, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech. It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for seniors who rely on Social Security, for our allies in Ukraine, for NATO and democracy and decency.</blockquote>
<a href="https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/jimmy-kimmel-monologue-trump-win-tears-1236203362/">It wasn’t comedy</a>. It was pure fear-mongering.
<div id="attachment_933335" style="width: 903px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-933335" class="size-large wp-image-933335" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel-893x576.jpg" alt="Jimmy Kimmel" width="893" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel-893x576.jpg 893w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel-300x194.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel-768x495.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/Jimmy-Kimmel.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 893px) 100vw, 893px" />Easterseals/Getty Images for Easterseals</div>
What does this have to do with Kirk? Well, everything. Late-night liberals paint Trump and his MAGA faithful with a very broad brush, and they have for some time.
Remember how the far-Left “Saturday Night Live” created a faux Trump campaign ad all the way back in 2016 that depicted his voters <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg0pO9VG1J8">as KKK members and Nazis</a>?
It hasn’t gotten better since then.
Plus, Kirk had plenty to do with the president’s re-election. His bond with young voters was legendary. He worked in tandem with Trump’s messaging to get him back in the White House, powered partly by youthful voters who saw more than a few of Kirk’s legendary debate smackdowns.
Every article about his murder tied Kirk to Trump.
Blaming extreme rhetoric for real-world violence shouldn’t be done lightly, and it’s always more complicated than it sounds. This isn’t a new political tactic. President Bill Clinton proved that maxim when he immediately called out right-wing talk radio <a href="https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/flashback-how-clinton-exploited-oklahoma-city-for-political-gain/article_4a5b06ba-cea5-539a-8eed-ea3bd45d3d67.html">following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing</a>.
That was politically expedient and foolhardy. Compared to modern political rhetoric, talk radio titan Rush Limbaugh was a veritable pussycat. Plus, whatever sway right-wing radio had at the time was minuscule compared to the bigger media picture today.
Would-be assassins can now feast on extreme Fake News from CNN, MSNBC or other dishonest outlets. Or, they can listen to a month’s worth of late-night monologues. The foul messaging hits us from all sides in 2025. It’s the new abnormal.
Free speech still matters, of course. We shouldn’t silence a late-night host for resorting to extreme talking points, Fake News and hate. That’s a slippery slope and legitimately scary.
They still should take a long, hard look in the mirror to grasp what they’re injecting into the body politic. Will Kirk’s shocking murder make that happen?
If past is prologue, absolutely not. The assassination attempt against Trump last year proves it.
Ironically, Kirk cheered on “South Park” when the venerable series took direct aim at him last month. The series showed Cartman becoming a “master debater” via the “Got a Nut?” episode, his hairstyle directly copying Kirk’s signature ‘do.
It wasn’t an accident. And Kirk greeted the satirical takedown with a smile.
Why? It wasn’t cruel or meant to injure. It was political comedy, and he recognized it as such.
<blockquote>There’s going to be a lot said about this, but we need to have a good spirit about being made fun of. This is all a success, this is all a win. We as conservatives, we have thick skin, not thin skin, and you can make fun of us, and it doesn’t matter.</blockquote>
He got the joke. Sometimes, there’s nothing funny about what comics like Kimmel and Colbert add to the conversation.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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