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Tag: Brendan Carr

  • Trump’s FCC Chair Wants Networks to Run Nationalistic Content and Pledge Loyalty for America’s Big Bday

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    Until now, current chair of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr has mostly been in the news for his role in weaponizing the FCC to serve the aims of this administration.  In December, he testified to Congress that his office is, erm, actually “not formally an independent agency,” right before removing the word “independent” from the mission statement on the agency’s website. More recently, he continued his tradition of threatening late-night hosts by again harassing CBS about Colbert and desperately trying to make enforcement of the “equal-time rule” a cudgel worth fearing.

    But Carr’s not always playing the heel. He wants you to know he’s got a fun side too and is showing that off by helping to plan what is sure to be this summer’s most legendary party. In a statement on Friday, he let his (proverbial) hair down and offered broadcasters strongly worded suggestions about what gifts the nation (and President) would most like to receive in commemoration of the “big 2-5-0.”

    “As America’s 250th anniversary approaches, it is important to reflect on the ideals and events that have defined our past while keeping an eye towards our country’s bright future,” said Carr. “I am calling on broadcasters to pledge to provide programming that promotes civic education, national pride, and our shared history.” Who among us doesn’t want more civic education?

    Demonstrating exactly why he’s a Tier 1 operator in President Trump’s Salute to America 250 Task Force, Carr went on to provide numerous suggestions for how networks could best hug the flag on this most momentous of occasions.

    According to Carr, they could air “PSAs, short segments, or full specials specifically promoting civic education, inspiring local stories, and American history.” Ooh. Remember VH1’s Pop-Up Video? What about something like that for “daily ‘Today in American History’ announcements highlighting significant events that took place on that day in history? Or how about shoehorning in a highlight of one of our lovely National Parks “during regular news programming?” Would it be coherent? Maybe. Patriotic? Absolutely. And would it kill you guys to get back to starting each broadcast day with the ‘Star Spangled Banner?’” Heck, he’d even settle for the Pledge of Allegiance. Carr’s just that chill a dude.

    But when Carr passes you the aux on July 4th, he doesn’t wanna hear none of that pinko Bad Bunny or Billie Eilish ish you usually play. This semiquincentennial bash is only bumping bangers by American OGs. I’m talking Gershwin, Copland, Ellington. And if you really wanna see Carr get sturdy with it, hit ‘im with the John Philip Sousa.

    Carr closed out his statement by asking those networks down to patriotically clown on Independence Day to swear their fealty and commitment to the above requests by joining his Pledge America Campaign. Carr said he looks forward to broadcasters “taking the Pledge and fulfilling their public interest mandate” before noting that this is all completely voluntary, of course.

    Time will tell what amazing displays of jingoism await us this summer. But it America’s birthday is anything like that lit parade they had last year to the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary—brought to you by Coinbase—we’re all in for an unforgettable experience.

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    Justin Caffier

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  • FCC Calls On Broadcasters To Mark America’s 250th With Patriotic Content; Chairman Brendan Carr Cites Lack Of A ‘Schoolhouse Rock!’

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    The FCC called on broadcasters to mark the 250th anniversary of the United States with more “patriotic, pro-America” content, as Chairman Brendan Carr urged stations to pledge commit to programming that “promotes civic education, national pride, and our shared history.”

    Carr’s announcement on Friday appeared to harken back to the Bicentennial of 1976, citing Schoolhouse Rock!, the ABC Saturday morning interstitials that educated children about civics. He also said that an option for broadcasters would be to start each broadcast day with the Pledge of Allegiance or The Star Spangled Banner.

    The FCC chairman also laid out other options, including PSA and segments on civics and American history; highlighting local historical sites; airing music from composers like John Philip Sousa, Aaron Copland, Duke Ellington or George Gershwin; and providing announcements on “this day in history.”

    The latter suggestion also was a feature of a half century ago, when CBS presented a series of historical segments called Bicentennial Minutes that ran each night for more than two years. Everyone from network stars to President Gerald Ford narrated the interstitials.

    Playing the National Anthem used to be a regular feature of a station’s sign on and sign off, but started to disappear as outlets went to 24 schedules, although some have returned to the practice in recent years.

    Carr is calling his effort the Pledge America Campaign, with the agency noting that broadcasters can voluntary indicate their commitment but that it would be “consistent with their longstanding public interest obligations.” The agency described the campaign as something that “enables broadcasters to lend their voices in support of Task Force 250 and the celebration of America’s 250th birthday by airing patriotic, pro-America content that celebrates the American journey and inspires its citizens by highlighting the historic accomplishments of this great nation from our founding through the Trump Administration today.”

    Stations have to show how they operated in the public interest when their licenses come up for renewal, with the latest round set for 2028.

    Carr said in a statement, “This type of programming is more relevant than ever, as surveys show that civics education is in rapid decline.  And classic programming such as Schoolhouse Rock! is now only found in online archives.  Broadcasters are uniquely positioned to help address these concerning developments by providing programming that celebrates the remarkable story of American Independence while also tailoring it to the specific needs of their local communities, in furtherance of their public interest obligations.”

    “That is why I am inviting broadcasters to pledge to air programming in their local markets in support of this historic national, non-partisan celebration.”

    The sole Democrat on the FCC, Anna Gomez, has been critical of Carr, calling his investigations of networks shows like The View and Saturday Night Live ways to try to pressure broadcasters to limit content that President Donald Trump dislikes. This week, Carr said that they are looking at an “enforcement action” against The View for violation of the Equal Time Rule. Gomez told reporters that “the threats are the point, the harassment is the point, because the commission is not going to survive appeal if it actually takes action against these broadcasters, because what it is doing is a violation of the First Amendment.”

    In a post on X, Gomez wrote of the America 250 pledge, “Nothing is more American than defending our constitutional rights against those who would erode our civil liberties. If broadcasters choose to participate in this FCC campaign, they can do so by defending their First Amendment rights and refusing government interference.”

    Schoolhouse Rock! ran in the 1970s and 80s, with one of the most remembered segments, I’m Just A Bill, debuting in 1976 as segments were presented tied to the Bicentennial.

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    Ted Johnson

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  • US bans new foreign-made drones and components

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    The Federal Communications Commission has added foreign-made drones and their critical components to the agency’s “Covered List,” making them prohibited to import into the US. In a public notice published by the FCC, it said several national security agencies have determined that umanned aircraft systems (UAS) and their critical components produced in foreign countries pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States.

    “UAS and UAS critical components must be produced in the United States,” the agency said. “UAS are inherently dual-use: they are both commercial platforms and potentially military or paramilitary sensors and weapons. UAS and UAS critical components, including data transmission devices, communications systems, flight controllers, ground control stations, controllers, navigation systems, batteries, smart batteries, and motors produced in a foreign country could enable persistent surveillance, data exfiltration, and destructive operations over U.S. territory, including over World Cup and Olympic venues and other mass gathering events.”

    FCC Chair Brendan Carr clarified on X that the ban does not affect old drones. People can continue using the devices they’ve already purchased, and retailers can keep selling models that have already been approved by the agency. The new rule only applies to upcoming models. He also said that the Department of War or the Department of Homeland Security can allow specific new models, a certain class of drones or particular components to be sold in the US.

    The FCC didn’t name any manufacturers in particular, but one of the most well-known brands that will be affected by the ban is Chinese company DJI, which told Engadget that it was disappointed by the agency’s decision. “While DJI was not singled out, no information has been released regarding what information was used by the Executive Branch in reaching its determination,” a spokesperson said. DJI has long been in the US government’s crosshairs and has been trying to prove that its products aren’t a national security threat.

    “DJI products are among the safest and most secure on the market, supported by years of reviews conducted by US government agencies and independent third parties,” they added. “Concerns about DJI’s data security have not been grounded in evidence and instead reflect protectionism, contrary to the principles of an open market.”

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    Mariella Moon

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  • Donald Trump Calls For Late Night Host Seth Meyers To Be Fired — And This Time, FCC Chairman Reposts POTUS’ Demand

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    During a weekend in which he has raged at critics, Donald Trump lashed out at Seth Meyers, as he has done before, while calling on the NBC late-night host to be fired.

    Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday, “NBC’s Seth Meyers is suffering from an incurable case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). He was viewed last night in an uncontrollable rage, likely due to the fact that his ‘show’ is a Ratings DISASTER. Aside from everything else, Meyers has no talent, and NBC should fire him, IMMEDIATELY!”

    Soon after Trump’s post on Saturday, Trump’s FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, reposted the president’s angry message to his X account.

    Carr did not add any comment on Trump’s post, but his amplification of the president’s call for NBC to fire a late-night critic follows the FCC chairman’s warning to ABC stations in September over Jimmy Kimmel, whose comments about Charlie Kirk led to the network pulling the late-night house from the schedule for several days. Two major station groups, Nexstar and Sinclair, said they would not air the show. Nexstar is seeking FCC approval of its acquisition of Tegna.

    A spokesperson for NBC did not immediately return a request for comment. Meyers has not yet responded.

    Trump went after Meyers earlier this month, calling him “the least talented person to ‘perform’ live in the history of television” and a “truly deranged lunatic.”

    “In general, I try to live by the New Yorker’s creed: When someone is ranting and raving about you, ignore them. Chances are, they’re just going to move on and rave about something else. But there’s one thing I simply have to address,” Meyers said on the show. “You can say I’m untalented. You can say I’m deranged. But I’m not the one who talks endlessly about catapults on aircraft carriers!”

    Carr’s warning about Kimmel, followed by him being pulled from the air, led to a backlash to the backlash, with Disney+ subscribers canceling their subscriptions.

    Days later, Carr claimed that he was not threatening stations with losing their license if Kimmel was not fired. But even some Republicans took it that way, with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) comparing the FCC chairman’s comments to something a mafia boss would say.

    On his late-night show earlier this month, Kimmel, in his monologue, Kimmel said, “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.”

    Two days later, Carr, appearing on Benny Johnson’s podcast, called Kimmel’s remark “some of the sickest conduct possible.”

    “Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    In the Benny Johnson interview, Carr did bring up the prospect of Kimmel being fired and the possible revocation of station licenses.

    He said: “Look, there’s calls for Kimmel to be fired. You could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this. Again, the FCC is going to have remedies that we can look at. We may ultimately be called to be a judge on that.”

    Cruz has said that he plans to introduce the the Justice Against Weaponized Bureaucratic Outreach to Network Expression (JAWBONE) Act. In response to what he says were Biden administration efforts to pressure tech companies, the legislation would “provide a robust right to redress when Americans are targeted by their own government,” Cruz said at a hearing last month.

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    Ted Johnson

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  • Jimmy Kimmel explains how he learned he was being yanked off the air — and thought he’d never return

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    When ABC executives told Jimmy Kimmel last month that his show was being pulled off the air, the late-night show’s audience was seated, a guest chef had already started making food, the musical guest had performed a warm-up act, and Kimmel was in the bathroom.”It was about 3:00; we tape our show at 4:30,” Kimmel told Stephen Colbert on an episode of “The Late Show” Tuesday. “I’m in my office, typing away as I usually do. I get a phone call. It’s ABC. They say they want to talk to me. This is unusual: They, as far as I knew, didn’t even know I was doing a show previous to this.”Kimmel said he had five writers in his office at the time, and the only private place where he could take the call was the bathroom.”So I go into the bathroom, and I’m on the phone with the ABC executives. and they say, ‘Listen, we want to take the temperature down. We’re concerned about what you’re going to say tonight, and we decided that the best route is to take the show off the air.’”The audience booed, and Kimmel joked: “That’s what I said: I started booing.””I said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ and they said, ‘Well, we think it’s a good idea.’ Then there was a vote, and I lost the vote.”Kimmel said he called some of the show’s executive producers into his office to share the news, and he turned white.”I thought, that’s it. It’s over, it’s over. I was like, I’m never coming back on the air.”Kimmel said the show had to send the seated audience home. Chef Christian Petroni’s prepared meatballs and polenta that he had been cooking before the taping went to waste. Future musical guest Howard Jones, however, taped a song for a future episode: “Things Can Only Get Better,” which Kimmel acknowledged was ironic.ABC suspended Kimmel’s show in mid-September for a few days after a controversial monologue that mentioned Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer – and the right-wing reaction to Kirk’s murder. Two days later, FCC Chair Brendan Carr, on a conservative podcast, threatened to pull ABC affiliate broadcast licenses in response. Then Nexstar — the station group which airs “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in approximately two dozen markets — announced they would not air the show. Another affiliate, Sinclair, followed suit. And hours later, Kimmel took ABC executives’ call in the bathroom.Kimmel returned to the air the following Tuesday with an emotional monologue — and mega-ratings.Colbert couldn’t get the line outColbert, who also appeared as a guest on Brooklyn taping of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Tuesday, said he could empathize with Kimmel. The CBS star said executives had made the decision to end his show while Colbert was on vacation. His manager, James Dixon, whom he shares with Kimmel, waited until Colbert returned to share the news.Recounting his desire to tell his audience about the news immediately — despite the fact that “Late Night” is set to run through the spring of 2026 — Colbert told Kimmel that at the end of the following show, he asked his audience to remain in their seats for one more segment. But he had trouble delivering his lines and flubbed the line — twice.”I was so nervous about doing it right, ’cause there was nothing in the prompter. I was just speaking off the cuff,” Colbert said. “They started going, ‘Come on Stephen, you can do it,” because I always messed up on the sentence that told them what was happening. And then I got to the sentence that actually told them what’s happening, and they didn’t laugh.”Although CBS owner Paramount said the cancellation of “The Late Show” was strictly a business decision, many media critics — and Kimmel — questioned that rationale, and some have said it was likely a political decision to appease the Trump administration that needed to approve Paramount’s merger with Skydance.Both Colbert and Kimmel have been frequent and unabashed critics of President Donald Trump and his administration. Trump publicly celebrated when Colbert was canceled, saying in a social media post that Kimmel and NBC’s Seth Meyers were “next.” Trump again celebrated when Kimmel was pulled off the air but criticized — and threatened — ABC when it brought him back on.Meyers made an appearance on Kimmel’s show Tuesday, and the three late night hosts posed for a photograph posted to Instagram. Kimmel added the caption: “Hi Donald!”Kimmel joked with Colbert that Tuesday’s taping was, “The show the FCC doesn’t want you to see.” He introduced Colbert as, “The Emmy-winning late-night talk show host who, thanks to the Trump administration, is now available for a limited-time only.”Kimmel quipped that he was “so honored to be here with my fellow no-talent, late-night loser.” As for the rationale for inviting Colbert onto his program: “We thought it might be a fun way to drive the president nuts.”

    CNN —

    When ABC executives told Jimmy Kimmel last month that his show was being pulled off the air, the late-night show’s audience was seated, a guest chef had already started making food, the musical guest had performed a warm-up act, and Kimmel was in the bathroom.

    “It was about 3:00; we tape our show at 4:30,” Kimmel told Stephen Colbert on an episode of “The Late Show” Tuesday. “I’m in my office, typing away as I usually do. I get a phone call. It’s ABC. They say they want to talk to me. This is unusual: They, as far as I knew, didn’t even know I was doing a show previous to this.”

    Kimmel said he had five writers in his office at the time, and the only private place where he could take the call was the bathroom.

    “So I go into the bathroom, and I’m on the phone with the ABC executives. and they say, ‘Listen, we want to take the temperature down. We’re concerned about what you’re going to say tonight, and we decided that the best route is to take the show off the air.’”

    The audience booed, and Kimmel joked: “That’s what I said: I started booing.”

    “I said, ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ and they said, ‘Well, we think it’s a good idea.’ Then there was a vote, and I lost the vote.”

    Kimmel said he called some of the show’s executive producers into his office to share the news, and he turned white.

    “I thought, that’s it. It’s over, it’s over. I was like, I’m never coming back on the air.”

    Kimmel said the show had to send the seated audience home. Chef Christian Petroni’s prepared meatballs and polenta that he had been cooking before the taping went to waste. Future musical guest Howard Jones, however, taped a song for a future episode: “Things Can Only Get Better,” which Kimmel acknowledged was ironic.

    ABC suspended Kimmel’s show in mid-September for a few days after a controversial monologue that mentioned Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer – and the right-wing reaction to Kirk’s murder. Two days later, FCC Chair Brendan Carr, on a conservative podcast, threatened to pull ABC affiliate broadcast licenses in response. Then Nexstar — the station group which airs “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in approximately two dozen markets — announced they would not air the show. Another affiliate, Sinclair, followed suit. And hours later, Kimmel took ABC executives’ call in the bathroom.

    Kimmel returned to the air the following Tuesday with an emotional monologue — and mega-ratings.

    Colbert couldn’t get the line out

    Colbert, who also appeared as a guest on Brooklyn taping of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Tuesday, said he could empathize with Kimmel. The CBS star said executives had made the decision to end his show while Colbert was on vacation. His manager, James Dixon, whom he shares with Kimmel, waited until Colbert returned to share the news.

    Recounting his desire to tell his audience about the news immediately — despite the fact that “Late Night” is set to run through the spring of 2026 — Colbert told Kimmel that at the end of the following show, he asked his audience to remain in their seats for one more segment. But he had trouble delivering his lines and flubbed the line — twice.

    “I was so nervous about doing it right, ’cause there was nothing in the prompter. I was just speaking off the cuff,” Colbert said. “They started going, ‘Come on Stephen, you can do it,” because I always messed up on the sentence that told them what was happening. And then I got to the sentence that actually told them what’s happening, and they didn’t laugh.”

    Although CBS owner Paramount said the cancellation of “The Late Show” was strictly a business decision, many media critics — and Kimmel — questioned that rationale, and some have said it was likely a political decision to appease the Trump administration that needed to approve Paramount’s merger with Skydance.

    Both Colbert and Kimmel have been frequent and unabashed critics of President Donald Trump and his administration. Trump publicly celebrated when Colbert was canceled, saying in a social media post that Kimmel and NBC’s Seth Meyers were “next.” Trump again celebrated when Kimmel was pulled off the air but criticized — and threatened — ABC when it brought him back on.

    Meyers made an appearance on Kimmel’s show Tuesday, and the three late night hosts posed for a photograph posted to Instagram. Kimmel added the caption: “Hi Donald!”

    Kimmel joked with Colbert that Tuesday’s taping was, “The show the FCC doesn’t want you to see.” He introduced Colbert as, “The Emmy-winning late-night talk show host who, thanks to the Trump administration, is now available for a limited-time only.”

    Kimmel quipped that he was “so honored to be here with my fellow no-talent, late-night loser.” As for the rationale for inviting Colbert onto his program: “We thought it might be a fun way to drive the president nuts.”

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  • Sinclair Backs Down, Will Resume Airing ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ on Local Stations

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    In a classic Friday news dump move, Sinclair announced that it will end its unofficial boycott of Jimmy Kimmel and will once again broadcast the comedian’s late-night show, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live,’ to its ABC affiliate broadcast stations, ending its completely principled and not at all politically motivated stance to pre-empt the show after all of two days.

    “Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience,” the company said in a statement. “We take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming.”

    Sinclair—which operates 30 ABC affiliate stations in 27 markets, including cities like Portland, Baltimore, and Minneapolis—announced last week that it would choose to air “news programming” in place of Kimmel’s show, which returned to the air Tuesday after a brief hiatus. The program, which was briefly suspended by ABC after Kimmel made a frankly pretty innocuous comment about the political ideology of the person who allegedly shot and killed conservative influencer Charlie Kirk in Utah earlier this month.

    Sinclair, along with fellow media conglomerate Nexstar, announced they would pull Kimmel’s show from the air following a statement from Federal Communications Commission head Brendan Carr, who warned broadcasters, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” and said, “These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    Both companies currently have business in front of the FCC and are pretty motivated to show fealty to the Trump administration to ensure their deals get pushed through—not that they need that much motivation, considering both companies are owned by conservative-aligned media magnates. Sinclair CEO David Smith has been shifting its editorial coverage to the right for years, and Smith reportedly told Trump in 2016, “We are here to deliver your message.” Likewise, Nexstar chairman Perry Sook has repeatedly praised Trump and poured money into the coffers of GOP groups.

    Sinclair attempted to get in front of the obvious criticisms that it would face as a result of both its initial decision not to broadcast ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ and its latest call to bring him back to the airwaves in Sinclair markets.

    “Our decision to preempt this program was independent of any government interaction or influence,” the company said. “Free speech provides broadcasters with the right to exercise judgment as to the content on their local stations. While we understand that not everyone will agree with our decisions about programming, it is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content.” It apparently took the company a solid week to remember that commitment to free speech, but it got there.

    The reality is that Sinclair was going to back down eventually, if only for legal reasons. As a broadcast executive explained to Deadline, local affiliates contractually can only preempt a program so many times before it breaks the contract and loses the ability to broadcast the show entirely. Sinclair’s “principled stance” was destined to last for exactly as long as it didn’t actually cost them anything and likely not a second longer.

    Once word started spreading that Disney might threaten to withhold live sports broadcasts from affiliates who pulled Kimmel, it was only a matter of time before Sinclair suddenly found its unwavering belief in “free speech” again. There may be a subset of people pissed off that Kimmel is back on Sinclair’s airwaves, but you can bet even more would be pissed if they couldn’t watch LSU play Ole Miss on Saturday. That would hurt Sinclair’s real primary principle: always maximize profits.

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    AJ Dellinger

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  • South Park Takes on Betting Markets, Trump, and the FCC

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    South Park returned with a new episode on Wednesday, focused on online betting, Israel’s war on Gaza, and President Donald Trump’s attempts to abort a baby that’s due after he impregnated Satan. But FCC Chairman Brendan Carr seemed to take the most abuse during the episode, something that was to be expected after Carr tried to get Jimmy Kimmel Live! removed from ABC. Spoilers ahead.

    South Park unexpectedly failed to deliver a new episode last week following the death of MAGA influencer Charlie Kirk. And while creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said it was due to their own procrastination, there was speculation that it may have had something to do with Kirk’s death. South Park did an episode mocking Kirk’s style of debate on Aug. 6, a month before he was killed on Sept. 10, and that episode has been pulled from the rerun schedule.

    But the comedy show didn’t address Kirk at all on Wednesday, even if it touched on some of the downstream effects of his murder. The episode put Brendan Carr, this month’s great villain against free speech, through the ringer as he takes a tumble down some slippery stairs, explosively shits his pants, and is eventually hospitalized while making a Nazi salute.

    The episode opens with the boys learning about prediction markets like Polymarket and how to make bets online. One of the bets available is whether Kyle’s mom will strike Gaza and destroy a Palestinian hospital, something that enrages Kyle, who objects to the anti-semitism inherent in the idea and tries to contact someone to get the bet taken down. Kyle tries to complain to the betting company, run by Donald Trump Jr., before he’s directed to a series of different agencies, also overseen by Donald Trump Jr.

    Eventually, Kyle is told he needs to get in touch with the FCC, since the bet is “offensive” and the federal communications regulator apparently handles anything offensive these days. Meanwhile, Cartman realizes he can work all of Kyle’s outrage to his advantage, getting people to bet that Kyle’s mom will indeed order a strike on Gaza, while Cartman bets against it.

    Trump, who’s largely been the focus of Season 27’s short five-episode run thus far, works hard to get Satan to have a miscarriage, spiking soup with an absurd amount of Plan B. Satan doesn’t want the soup, but Carr dives in, getting diarrhea so explosive that he zooms around the room before crashing out the window into the sky.

    JD Vance returned as a character from the 1970s TV show Fantasy Island, seemingly sycophantic and trying to suggest gifts that President Trump can give to Satan’s child. Vance warns that one gift, a kitten, can be toxic for pregnant people, given that toxoplasmosis can cause miscarriages. This, of course, gives Trump the idea to outfit the White House attic with a bunch of cats and kitty litter, which can be released by a trap door onto Satan. Assuming Trump can get Satan to stand in the right place. Again, the FCC chair bears the brunt of Trump’s scheming, getting buried underneath the mountain of kitty litter and cat shit.

    Cartman panics when he learns that Kyle’s mom is heading to the Middle East, worried that she may actually hit Gaza and his bet will be ruined. But Kyle’s mom didn’t travel to Israel to enact violence, just give Benjamin Netanyahu a piece of her mind.

    Brendan Carr, battered and bruised, is visited by Vance in the hospital, where the vice president reveals himself to be more than just Trump’s lackey. Vance knows exactly what he’s doing by trying to get Satan to have a miscarriage. Because he knows that if Trump and Satan were to have a baby, it would be competition during Vance’s ascendancy to the presidency.

    Viewers never learn what happens to Carr, but it seems like a safe bet that he’ll return in future episodes. And that’s consistent with his current trajectory in real life. The FCC chairman successfully campaigned to get Jimmy Kimmel pulled from the airwaves, but that was short-lived. Kimmel returned on Tuesday, and the New York Times reports that he’s still going to exert maximum pressure to get liberal voices purged from the airwaves.

    President Trump, who also got Stephen Colbert cancelled, dropped the pretense Tuesday that the “controversy” around Kimmel had anything to do with Charlie Kirk’s death.

    “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

    “Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE,” Trump continued.

    Then Trump made it clear that he’s never going to stop.

    “He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution,” Trump wrote about Kimmel. “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”

    On paper, South Park has been safe from cancellation, if only because Carr and the FCC only regulate the major broadcast stations, not cable. But Trump can apply pressure to private businesses in any number of ways. Disney is reportedly preparing for just that in the wake of Kimmel’s return.

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    Matt Novak

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  • Trump’s attacks on Kimmel and ABC put him at odds with high-profile conservatives

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    The return of Jimmy Kimmel to ABC’s airwaves flipped the political script, for a time aligning the late-night comedian with several conservative figures who staunchly disagree with federal regulators trying to shut him down over free speech — even as President Trump continued to threaten the network.

    “I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway,” Kimmel told viewers during his opening monologue Tuesday night.

    Trump in recent days has ramped up efforts to stifle his political opposition and what he perceives to be liberal bias in media coverage through lawsuits and regulatory actions, a move that has increasingly concerned the president’s supporters and influential conservative personalities.

    The firestorm over free speech came in the wake of comments Kimmel made about how the “MAGA gang” was trying to score political points from Charlie Kirk’s slaying. On a conservative podcast, Brendan Carr, a Trump loyalist who heads the Federal Communications Commission, accused Kimmel of “the sickest conduct” and suggested there could be regulatory consequences for local television stations whose programming did not serve the public interest.

    After Disney took “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air at ABC last week, some high-profile Trump allies worried the threat of regulating speech was taking it too far — and that conservatives could be next if the federal government were to follow through.

    “If we embrace the FCC stripping licenses from anyone who says something you disagree with, the next Democrat president who gets in the White House will do this and will come after everyone right of center,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a critic of Kimmel’s, said Wednesday on his podcast, “Verdict With Ted Cruz,” reaffirming previous comments in which he likened Carr’s threats to mafia-like maneuvers. “That is a slippery slope to oblivion.”

    Trump, however, was dismayed by Kimmel’s return and threatened legal action, following a pattern in which he has sued major media outlets over negative coverage of him.

    “I think we are going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do,” Trump wrote late Tuesday on his social media platform, suggesting a lawsuit against the network could potentially lead to a “lucrative” settlement. “A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”

    Combined, Trump’s legal threats and Carr’s comments have fueled a sharp debate about free speech, and whether Trump and Carr are trying to level the playing field for conservative voices or launching a coordinated and illegal attack to silence liberal ones. As a result, Carr — the author of an FCC chapter in the right-wing Project 2025 playbook — has landed in a glaring media spotlight and as the target of a congressional inquiry.

    Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and eight other Democratic senators wrote a letter to Carr on Wednesday expressing “grave concern” over the FCC’s apparent role in Kimmel’s suspension, and demanded answers about the role the agency played in it and its justification.

    “The FCC’s regulatory authority over broadcast licenses was never intended to serve as a weapon to silence criticism or punish satirical commentary,” the senators wrote. “Your agency’s mission is to serve the public interest, not to act as an enforcement arm for political retribution against media outlets that displease those in power.”

    California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta has also written to Carr, accusing the Trump administration of “waging a dangerous attack on those who dare to speak out against it” and calling on Carr to recommit to defending free speech, including by disavowing his previous remarks about Kimmel.

    In the days after Kimmel was sidelined, Cruz and other influential conservatives, who have long trashed the longtime late-night host, voiced opposition to his situation based on concerns that the FCC may be trying to regulate speech on the airwaves.

    “You don’t have to like what somebody says on TV to agree that the government shouldn’t be getting involved here,” former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said on a social media post Monday.

    Podcast host Joe Rogan said he did not “think the government should be involved, ever, in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue” — and told conservatives they are “crazy” if they don’t think such tactics could be “used” against them. Candance Owens, a far-right influencer, said Kimmel’s suspension was an attack on free speech, and said she does not agree with the government controlling what can be said.

    Ben Shapiro raised concerns about potential government overreach.

    “I don’t want the FCC in the business of telling local affiliated that their licenses will be removed if they broadcast material that the FCC deems to be informationally false,” Shapiro said, warning that “one day the shoe will be on the other foot.”

    Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson said last week he does not want to see “bad actors” use Kirk’s killing as a means to restrict free speech, which he said is a cornerstone of Kirk’s legacy.

    “You hope a year from now, the turmoil we’re seeing in the aftermath of his murder won’t be leveraged to bring hate speech laws to this country,” Carlson said.

    In his opening monologue, Kimmel touched on the same theme. He said Carr’s tactics were “un-American” and likened them to what happens in authoritarian countries such as Russia.

    “This show is not important,” he said. “What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

    On the podcast last week, Carr called Kimmel’s remarks about Kirk’s alleged shooter “some of the sickest conduct possible.” He then said: “Frankly, when you see stuff like this, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. There are ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    On Monday, Carr denied claims that he threatened to pull television stations’ licenses and that he played a role in Kimmel’s suspension, saying “that didn’t happen in any way, shape or form.”

    “They’re completely misrepresenting the work of the FCC and what we’ve been doing,” he said during a conference in New York, accusing Democrats of engaging in a “campaign of projection and distortion.”

    Carr said the FCC wants to empower local television station owners to “push back on national programmers, even when they think there’s some content that they don’t think in their judgment — not my judgment, but their judgment — makes sense for the local communities.”

    What happened with Kimmel, Carr said, is that local television stations “for the first time in a long time stood up and said, ‘We don’t want to run that program, at least right now.’” He said Disney, a national programmer, then made its own business decision not to air Kimmel for a few days.

    After Disney brought back the show, station owners Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group said they would not be running it on their ABC affiliates, hinting to future conflicts that could play out in the media landscape.

    Carr opened his Project 2025 chapter on the FCC by writing that the agency should “promote freedom of speech,” but has also sided with Trump in criticizing broadcasters for allegedly showing bias against conservatives and said that he would use the agency’s power to ensure that they better serve the “public interest.”

    Bob Shrum, director of the USC Dornsife Center for the Political Future, said the political brawl over Kimmel has been interesting to watch — in part because of the bipartisan backlash to the suspension and the administration’s apparent influence on it.

    “I’m encouraged by the fact that it’s not just Democrats who complained about this, it’s Republicans like Ted Cruz,” Shrum said. “That at least begins to set a deterrent for the federal government going too far on this.”

    While Trump was angered by Kimmel’s return, Shrum found it notable that his social media post ended with the line: “Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.” It showed the limits the president sees on his power to wipe Kimmel from the airwaves, he said.

    “That’s not the kind of last line that says, ‘We’re coming after you,’” Shrum said.

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    Ana Ceballos, Kevin Rector

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  • How Did Trump and Others React to Jimmy Kimmel’s Return?

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    On Monday, Stephen Colbert announced that Kimmel would be returning to his show this week, telling his Late Show audience that, “our long national late-nightmare is over.

    Colbert said it was wonderful news for Kimmel and his “wonderful” staff, but joked about his own recent cancellation, saying he’s now “the only martyr in late night.”

    Similar to Colbert, Seth Meyers told his Late Night audience Monday night that he received word moments before taping that Kimmel would be returning. Meyers said that there’s been a “massive national backlash to Trump’s crackdown on free speech, even among conservatives.”

    Meyers, who Trump has also criticized, joked about his own future at NBC.

    “Donald Trump is publicly calling on his attorney general to prosecute his political enemies and said TV networks that criticise him should lose their broadcast license. But that’s not us, right? We’re good? What, we’re on a network? But I don’t even wear a suit. This is a network? I thought we only aired on those gas station TVs,” he said.

    On Monday’s episode of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart mocked the idea that Kimmel’s suspension was anything but political.

    “It was rather shocking that this turnaround occurred, because I was told that the original decision to get rid of Jimmy had nothing to do with the Trump administration and their explicit FCC threat that they could remove the show the easy way or the hard way,” he said.

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    Nia Prater

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  • Jimmy Kimmel Makes STRONG Late-Night Return With Messages Of Freedom & Unity – WATCH! – Perez Hilton

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    Jimmy Kimmel is back on the air!

    The late-night TV host marked Tuesday night as his return to the airwaves after that abrupt suspension last week following comments he made about the death of conservative political pundit Charlie Kirk.

    Fans have been waiting to see what would happen upon the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to ABC. And even though Tuesday’s comeback wasn’t aired on all ABC affiliates across the country, the episode still marked a momentous occasion for Jimmy, his staff, and his viewers — oh, and social media users, too, of course.

    Related: John Oliver BLASTS ‘Cowards’ At ABC & Disney Over Kimmel Suspension!

    Tuesday night’s guests were actor Glen Powell and musical guest Sarah McLachlan. And look, no shade intended towards them, but… nobody was there to see them do their thing. Nahhhh, everybody tuned in to see what Kimmel would say about getting pulled off air!

    So, without further ado, here we go…

    Kimmel entered the studio to ROARING applause, with the audience giving him a standing ovation, chanting “Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy,” and more. See for yourself:

    He thanked them for their support, then started his comeback monologue by joking:

    “If you’re just joining us, we are preempting a regularly scheduled encore episode of Celebrity Family Feud to bring you this special report.

    The 57-year-old comedian then referenced RFK Jr.’s “autism announcement” that was dropped on Monday, quipping:

    “I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours, me or the CEO of Tylenol.”

    By the way, experts have largely refuted the MAHA claim that the only doctor-approved painkiller for pregnant women is a cause for autism, but we digress…

    He continued:

    “It’s been overwhelming. I’ve heard from a lot of people over the last six days. I’ve heard from all the people all over the world, over the last reached out 10 or 11 times, weird characters from my past, or the guy who fired me from my first radio job in Seattle, not airing tonight by the way.”

    He also thanked right wing voices like Ted Cruz‘s that warned against such retaliation and what it means for the first amendment.

    “It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration. They did and they deserve credit for it.”

    Kimmel then made it extremely clear his intention was to never make light of Kirk’s death, saying:

    “I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.”

    Remember, he never actually made a joke about the death of Kirk. In fact, he strongly condemned the assassination the day it happened and sent his sincere condolences to the family. No, he was pulled over his comments about the gunman and the right wing reaction to it all.

    Regardless, he still knows it was wrong and unAmerican for ABC affiliates to respond the way they did, calling out Donald Trump‘s FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for publicly saying the network would get pressure regarding Kimmel’s comments when Carr said, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” and “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    Overall the entire monologue was a poignant message of unity for all Americans and our first amendment rights. It was also one for healing. He ended on a note about Erika Kirk‘s speech from the podcaster’s memorial service on Sunday, specifically her public forgiveness for the gunman. Kimmel said that’s what the teachings of Jesus Christ are all about it — forgiveness. Through tears he admitted it touched him deeply, saying “if there is anything we should take from this tragedy, it’s that.”

    Watch it all for yourself (below):

    BTW, Jimmy Kimmel Live! will welcome Ethan Hawke, Lisa Ann Walter, and musical guest Yungblud on Wednesday. Then, on Thursday, Peyton Manning, Oscar Nuñez, and musical guest Alex G will show out.

    Reactions, y’all?? Drop ’em (below)!

    [Image via Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube]

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    Perez Hilton

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  • Brendan Carr says networks must serve the ‘public interest.’ What does that mean?

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    On his ABC late-night show last Monday, Jimmy Kimmel criticized President Donald Trump and his followers for their actions since Charlie Kirk’s murder. Within days, Kimmel’s show was suspended, after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr publicly threatened reprisal. (Kimmel’s show is set to return to the air Tuesday.)

    The entire affair was blatantly improper, as a federal official leaned on a private company to censor an employee’s protected speech. Carr, meanwhile, says he’s just pursuing the “public interest.” What does that actually mean? Just about anything a regulator wants, it turns out.

    Unlike other forms of media, radio and network TV stations broadcast over public airwaves, which the FCC polices by issuing broadcast licenses. Federal law authorizes the FCC to ensure licensees serve “the public interest, convenience, and necessity.”

    “Generally, this means [a broadcaster] must air programming that is responsive to the needs and problems of its local community of license,” the FCC claims.

    Carr often cites the “public interest” as his goal for FCC actions. “Broadcast media have had the privilege of using a scarce and valuable public resource—our airwaves. In turn, they are required by law to operate in the public interest,” he wrote in November 2024, the day after Trump announced he would appoint Carr to head the agency. “When the transition is complete, the FCC will enforce this public interest obligation.”

    In his current role, Carr has evoked the “public interest” to justify numerous FCC actions—including investigations of Comcast’s relationship with NBC affiliates and a San Francisco radio station’s coverage of immigration enforcement in San Jose, and accusing NBC of “news distortion” for its coverage of an immigration case.

    “One thing that we’re trying to do is to empower those local stations to serve their own communities,” Carr told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson last week. “And the public interest means you can’t be running a narrow partisan circus and still meeting your public interest obligations.”

    Who’s to say if Carr’s actions are in those local communities’ best interest? Law and judicial precedent actually give him some pretty considerable leeway.

    “Perhaps no single area of communications policy has generated as much scholarly discourse, judicial analysis, and political debate over the course of the last seventy years as has that simple directive to regulate in the ‘public interest,’” Erwin G. Krasnow and Jack N. Goodman wrote in a 1998 article for the Federal Communications Law Journal, a publication of Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law. “If the history of this elusive regulatory standard makes anything clear, it is the fact that just what constitutes service in the ‘public interest’ has encompassed different things at different times.”

    Congress first included the phrase “public interest, convenience, and necessity” in the Radio Act of 1927, but did not define it—leaving it for future regulators to interpret. “Our opinions have repeatedly emphasized that the [FCC]’s judgment regarding how the public interest is best served is entitled to substantial judicial deference,” the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in 1981’s FCC v. WNCN Listeners Guild. Subsequent legislation expanded the government’s regulatory power but largely kept the “public interest” standard intact.

    “Few independent regulatory commissions have had to operate under such a broad grant of power with so few substantive guidelines,” Krasnow and Goodman wrote.

    One would imagine the “public interest” is best served by respecting the First Amendment and defending free speech. “The FCC has long held that ‘the public interest is best served by permitting free expression of views,’” according to the agency’s website. “Rather than suppress speech, communications law and policy seeks to encourage responsive ‘counter-speech’ from others. Following this principle ensures that the most diverse and opposing opinions will be expressed, even though some views or expressions may be highly offensive.”

    But that would directly contradict Carr’s actions: Over the past week, Carr not only pressured a broadcaster to punish one of its hosts over intemperate comments, he gloated over the host’s suspension and pledged daytime chat show The View might be next in his crosshairs.

    The “public interest standard” is in fact “not really a standard because it doesn’t tell you what they can’t do,” Thomas W. Hazlett, an economics professor at Clemson University, tells Reason. “There is some formal structure to the process, but in terms of an actual regulatory standard, it basically means that we’re going to make rules according to what we think is right. And of course, if you want to do things that are different and exercise power in a certain direction, you’ll talk a lot about public interest because it’s a very wide berth for justifying what you’re trying to do. It does dress it up a little bit, that it’s not just politics, it’s bigger than that, but not really: It’s what the five members of the commission vote to do, and that’s the beginning and the end.”

    As Reason‘s Robby Soave noted, one person who understood this was Ayn Rand, who wrote in 1962 that a government-enforced public interest standard was simply a more sophisticated form of censorship, “for stifling the freedom of men’s minds.”

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    Joe Lancaster

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  • Jimmy Kimmel’s show set to return on Tuesday

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    (CNN) — “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will return to air on ABC on Tuesday night, the network announced in a statement.

    “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,” a spokesperson for the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, said in a statement to CNN. “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.”

    “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was abruptly and indefinitely taken off the air last week after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and networks of affiliate stations owned by Sinclair and Nexstar threatened ABC over comments Kimmel made in a monologue about the MAGA movement’s response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

    The move sparked a national debate about government interference and freedom speech between supporters of President Donald Trump’s administration and Kimmel, who have been vocally critically of each other over the years.

    Before news of his pending return on Monday, more than 400 artists, including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Aniston, signed an open letter, organized by the ACLU, in support of Kimmel.

    There were organized protests against Disney outside of the company’s offices in New York and Burbank, California over the past week, as well as outside the theater where Kimmel’s show is recorded in Hollywood.

    Media analysts have watched as Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden have navigated competing pressures. Disney needs government approval for pending deals like ESPN’s pact with the NFL, while many of its station partners are in the same boat. Additionally, Kimmel’s contract is expiring in May and late-night TV audiences and revenue have been on decline.

    Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet is keeping the pressure on station owners: “Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make. Nextstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice.”

    Still, Kimmel’s sudden suspension sent shock waves through the entertainment industry, where the comedian and long-time host is well-regarded, both inside and outside ABC.

    His show employs between 200 and 250 people. During the WGA strike, which shut down Hollywood productions in 2023, Kimmel provided funds for his crew when production on his show was halted. When production was shut down again during wildfires in Los Angeles early this year, the show’s backlot was used as a donation center to collect and distribute resources to those impacted by the disaster.

    Kimmel has not yet publicly commented on the controversy, but presumably will on his show Tuesday night.

    CNN has reached out to representatives of the late-night host, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar for comment.

    Editor’s note: CNN’s David Goldman and Lisa Respers France contributed to this story.

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    Elizabeth Wagmeister, Brian Stelter and CNN

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  • Opinion: Even Sen. Ted Cruz Thinks FCC Went Too Far with Kimmel

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    On Friday, Houston’s own Sen. Ted Cruz took to his podcast, Verdict with Ted Cruz, to denounce Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s overt call to push late night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air and his threats to pull ABC’s broadcast license.

    “I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off the air if we don’t like what you’re saying,” Cruz said, noting, with a surprisingly fun movie mobster accent, that Carr was acting like he’d wandered out of Goodfellas.

    And just like that, Cruz, the vaunted Constitutional law expert best known these days for taking poorly politically timed vacations and sometimes staggeringly pragmatic and politically expedient stances that seem to fly in the face of all of that Constitutional expertise, found that there is, in fact, a line he’d rather not cross.

    It (possibly, maybe) had to happen eventually.

    So how did we get here? Well, in case you’ve been on a distant tropical island without any cell signal, this all started on Monday when Kimmel pointed out in his opening monologue for Jimmy Kimmel Live! that MAGA conservatives had spent the weekend “trying to score political points” off Kirk’s death by insisting Kirk’s alleged assassin Tyler Robinson was not one of their own. (Kimmel recorded his monologue before Utah officials issued more information about the suspect and his background.)

    Conservative media began whipping itself up into a frenzy over these comments. The late-night host reportedly planned to clarify his statement on his Wednesday night show, but he never got the chance.

    Earlier that day FCC Chairman Carr was asked about the FCC’s stance on Kimmel’s comments during an appearance on far-right podcaster Benny Johnson’s show. Carr decried the comments, calling Kimmel’s monologue “some of the sickest conduct possible” which does make one wonder what all of today’s modern media Carr has been exposed to. He then went further, criticizing ABC and its parent company Disney for not reprimanding Kimmel, noting that he “could certainly see a path forward for suspension on this” and that the FCC has “remedies we can look at.”

    And then he made himself clearer, Goodfellas-style, though without the use of a fun movie mobster accent.
    “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    After that two of ABC’s largest affiliates, Sinclair and Nexstar, both eyeing large mergers that will need FCC approval, announced they wouldn’t run Kimmel’s show and by Wednesday evening ABC had shelved Kimmel indefinitely.

    So, here’s where things get interesting.

    The Lone Star State’s junior senator isn’t the guy you think of these days when looking for an example of political bravery, a politician with the true courage of his convictions. He’s the guy who spoke out eloquently against then-candidate Donald Trump’s rise in at the 2016 GOP National Convention, before quickly changing his tune when his speech was meant with vehement boos from an irate Republican audience. And he hasn’t blinked since.

    Even as Trump has made fun of Cruz’s wife, accused his father of being involved in the JFK assassination. Even in the face of MAGA supporters storming the U.S. Capital Building and the stacks of criminal charges and convictions. Even as Trump has issued a slew of executive actions that essentially seem to divest Congress of Constitutionally mandated powers, the powers that Cruz and his coworkers are supposed to be wielding on behalf of the millions of constituents who sent them there.

    But on Friday, Cruz spoke out against the FCC chairman’s actions.

    “I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired,” Cruz said. (Note: Cruz isn’t quite accurate here. Kimmel’s show has been shelved but he has not reportedly been fired.) “But, let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media, have said. We’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like’ that will end up bad for conservatives.”

    And he went further from there. “I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired,” Cruz said. But, let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media, have said. We’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like’ that will end up bad for conservatives.”

    “Going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again, wins the White House,” he warned. “They will silence us. They will use this power and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.”

    Even as President Donald Trump has been vocal in his praise and support of Carr’s actions, Cruz hasn’t – at least as of this moment – walked his statements back.

    And keep in mind, Cruz has not maintained his seat since 2012 because of his charisma and charm. (Former President George W. Bush told donors, “I just don’t like the guy.” U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham once stated that if someone took Cruz out on the Senate floor the Senate wouldn’t convict. Former GOP House Speaker John Boehner called him “Lucifer incarnate.” Former Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat, wrote in his memoir, “I like Ted Cruz more than my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz.”)

    Instead of being likable, Cruz has another set of skills. Specifically, his 2016 GOP Convention debacle aside, Cruz seems to have an almost unerring ability to put a finger to political winds, read political tea leaves and then to, well, thread a political needle that always has him exactly in line with his donors and his constituents.

    Thus, while it’s possible that all of this has hit some tripwire in his Constitutional scholar’s mind that requires him to take a stand, it’s potentially a much more interesting shift, carefully worded, and carefully framed, for Cruz.

    In fact, when NBC News asked Cruz, who is Republican chairman of the Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC, if Cruz would do as Senate Democrats have requested and call Carr before the committee for a hearing on this incident, Cruz didn’t say hell, yes. But he also explicitly did not say no, telling NBC, “We will certainly engage in oversight of all of the agencies within the committee’s jurisdiction.”

    So far, Cruz has garnered a smattering of support from his fellow Republicans, with U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, of Texas and Pennsylvania Republican Sen. David McCormick speaking out in support. Cruz is also in line with a contingent of the conservative podcaster manosphere, many of whom have taken issue with Kimmel being pushed off the air, noting concerns about how this potentially violates First Amendment rights of free speech.

    Cruz cites the same concerns in his podcast episode, pointing out that this is the kind of thing that the GOP could bitterly regret someday.

    “Going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again, wins the White House,” he warned. “They will silence us. They will use this power and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.”

    Meanwhile Trump has continued to celebrate Carr’s actions, noting that since, in his view, most TV broadcasters give him and his administration negative coverage “I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”

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    Dianna Wray

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  • The FCC’s Involvement in Canceling Jimmy Kimmel Was ‘Unbelievably Dangerous,’ Ted Cruz Says

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    Sen. Ted Cruz (R–Texas) is happy that ABC decided to indefinitely suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show. But like Fox News political analyst Brit Hume, Cruz is not happy about the role that Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), played in that decision. By threatening TV stations that carried Jimmy Kimmel Live! with fines and license revocation, Cruz warned in his podcast on Friday, Carr set a dangerous precedent that could invite similar treatment of conservative speech under a future administration.

    “I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said,” Cruz declared, referring to the September 15 monologue in which the late-night comedian erroneously suggested that Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old man accused of assassinating conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a college in Utah five days earlier, was part of the MAGA movement. “I am thrilled that he was fired. But let me tell you: If the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media, have said; we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives.”

    In an interview with right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson on Wednesday, Carr warned that there are “actions we can take on licensed broadcasters” that dared to air Kimmel’s show, including “fines or license revocations.” He added that “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Either “these companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel,” he said, “or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    Hours later, Nexstar, which owns 32 ABC affiliate stations, announced that it would preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! “for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight’s show.” Sinclair, which owns 38 ABC affiliates, likewise said it would “indefinitely preempt” Jimmy Kimmel Live! beginning that night. ABC, which produces the programming aired by those affiliates and owns eight of the network’s stations, fell in line the same night, saying it would “indefinitely” suspend the show.

    Cruz likened Carr to a mafioso. “He says, ‘We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way,’” the senator noted. “And I got to say, that’s right out of Goodfellas. That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar [and] going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”

    In fact, Carr’s threat was more explicit than that. “This sort of status quo is obviously not acceptable,” he declared, saying it was “past time” for “these licensed broadcasters” to say, “Listen, we are going to preempt, we are not going to run, Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out, because we licensed broadcaster[s] are running the possibility of fines or license revocations from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion.”

    That rationale for punishing stations that carried Kimmel’s show was absurd on its face. The policy to which Carr alluded applies to a “broadcast news report” that was “deliberately intended to mislead viewers or listeners” about “a significant event.” While Kimmel’s remarks were certainly misinformed, it is doubtful that he intended to “mislead viewers.” It seems more plausible that he committed to a partisan narrative without bothering to ask whether it was supported by the facts, an example of carelessness rather than deliberate deceit. But whatever you think of Kimmel’s intent, a comedian’s monologue is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a “broadcast news report.”

    By abusing his power to exert pressure on ABC and its affiliates, Cruz said, Carr was setting an example that Democrats are apt to copy. “Going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat…wins the White House,” the senator said, and “they will silence us. They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.”

    Although “it might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel,” Cruz said, “when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it….It is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying, ‘We’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying.’”

    Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) agreed that Carr’s involvement in kiboshing Kimmel was “absolutely inappropriate.” The FCC’s chairman “has got no business weighing in on this,” Paul said on Sunday’s edition of Meet the Press. “If you’re losing money, you can be fired. But the government’s got no business in it. And the FCC was wrong to weigh in. And I’ll fight any attempt by the government to get involved with speech.”

    Conservative podcaster Tucker Carlson perceives a similar danger in Attorney General Pam Bondi’s response to online commentary that celebrated Kirk’s murder or justified violence against conservatives more generally. “We will absolutely target you, go after you, if you are targeting anyone with hate speech,” Bondi said last week, erroneously asserting a constitutional distinction between “free speech” and “hate speech.” She later claimed she had in mind “threats of violence that individuals incite against others.” But the speech that offended Bondi generally would not meet the First Amendment test that the Supreme Court established in the 1969 case Brandenburg v. Ohio, which requires advocacy that is both “directed” at inciting “imminent lawless action” and “likely” to have that effect.

    “This is the attorney general of the United States, the chief law enforcement officer of the United States, telling you that there is this other category…called hate speech,” Carlson remarked on his show last Wednesday. “And of course, the implication is that’s a crime. There’s no sentence that Charlie Kirk would have objected to more than that.”

    With good reason, Carlson said: “You hope that a year from now, the turmoil we’re seeing in the aftermath of his murder won’t be leveraged to bring hate speech laws to this country. And trust me, if it is, if that does happen, there is never a more justified moment for civil disobedience than that, ever. And there never will be. Because if they can tell you what to say, they’re telling you what to think.”

    It is encouraging that at least some of President Donald Trump’s allies recognize that freedom of speech is unreliable unless it protects their political opponents. But Trump himself seems oblivious to that point. When asked about Cruz’s criticism of Carr on Friday, Trump described the FCC chairman as “a great American patriot,” adding, “I disagree with Ted Cruz on that.”

    Of course he does. For years, Trump has been eager to wield the FCC’s powers against broadcasters who air programming that offends him. During Trump’s first administration, he averred that “network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai rejected that suggestion in no uncertain terms. “I believe in the First Amendment,” he said. “The FCC under my leadership will stand for the First Amendment, and under the law the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on the content of a particular newscast.”

    Trump’s views on the subject have not changed. Last week, he cheered Kimmel’s suspension as “Great News for America” and urged NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, two other late-night comedians who are often critical of him. “Do it NBC!!!” he demanded. In case there was any doubt that Trump was not merely offering advice as a businessman or TV critic, he signed that Truth Social missive “President DJT” and later clarified the underlying threat. “You have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump,” he complained to reporters. “It’s all they do….They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.” When network newscasts “take a great story” and “make it bad,” he averred, “that’s really illegal.”

    The difference this time around is that the FCC’s Trump-appointed chairman, an avowed free speech champion, has no constitutional compunction about using his powers to bully broadcasters into submission. “They give me only bad publicity or press,” Trump said on Thursday. “I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.”

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    Jacob Sullum

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  • Video: Trump Escalates Attack on Free Speech

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    new video loaded: Trump Escalates Attack on Free Speech

    By Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Christina Thornell and David Seekamp•

    Zolan Kanno-Youngs, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, describes how the Trump administration’s pressuring of ABC to take action against Jimmy Kimmel is part of a broader crackdown by the administration since the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

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    Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Christina Thornell and David Seekamp

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  • Bill Maher Voices Support For Jimmy Kimmel, Compares It To His ‘Politically Incorrect’ Cancellation: “ABC Stands For Always Be Caving”

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    This week, Bill Maher walked out in front of his live audience to a standing ovation, as the Real Time with Bill Maher host addressed ABC‘s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, comparing it to his own cancellation over two decades ago by the same network.

    “I know why you’re happy tonight: I’m still on,” the late-night host said before beginning his monologue.

    Maher continued, “Talk show hosts are going down like Blockbusters in the ’90s … Let me just tell you something, I am not intimidated by the FCC, and if President Trump is watching, I have one thing to say to you: Have you lost weight? You look terrific,” to audience cheers and laughs.

    “No, that’s not me, and never will be,” Maher added, “but life is f—ing weird. It was 24 years to the day that I made comments on ABC that got me canceled from that network, and Jimmy Kimmel took my slot at Politically Incorrect. I got canceled before cancel even had a culture.” (In the aftermath of 9/11, Maher disagreed with the suggestion that the perpetrators were “cowards,” arguing instead that the U.S. was cowardly for “lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away.” The comments caused an uproar, leading to major sponsors pulling their ads and local affiliates yanking the program. Afterward, as Maher mentioned, Kimmel was brought in to fill ABC’s late-night role.)

    Maher’s support for his colleague comes after multiple late-night hosts — from David Letterman to Seth Meyers to Jay Leno — decried ABC’s preemption of Jimmy Kimmel Live! as an infringement on free speech following host Jimmy Kimmel’s joke about Donald Trump‘s seeming lack of grief over the killing of ultra right-wing spokesman Charlie Kirk: “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,” he had said, in part.

    ABC’s indefinite suspension of the program came after FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened action over the joke — which poked fun at Trump being in the “construction” stage of grief for his segueing from a reporter’s question about how he is “holding up” into the remodeling being done on the White House ballroom — and following Nexstar, the largest TV station group in the country, pulling the show for the “foreseeable future.” The company later clarified it did so “unilaterally” sans FCC pressure. Meanwhile, Sinclair Broadcast Group, the second largest national station operator and largest owner of ABC affiliate stations, said it would not lift the suspension until Kimmel had apologized to Kirk’s family and made a “meaningful donation” to his conservative nonprofit organization Turning Point USA. As such, the company replaced its Kimmel slot with a tribute to Kirk.

    Meanwhile, as Trump celebrated the news, implying that Meyers and Jimmy Fallon are next up for removal, Democratic leaders penned a joint statement over the matter, as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee vowed he would launch a formal investigation. In Hollywood, guilds have reacted with fervor, with writers and actors protesting at the Disney lot in Burbank, and top talent — from Damon Lindelof to She-Hulk star Tatiana Maslany — either announcing they will not work with Disney in the aftermath or calling for consumer boycotts of properties like Hulu and Disney+. Andor writer and recently minted Emmy winner Dan Gilroy penned a guest column in Deadline denouncing the “venomous evil” and governmental “siege.”

    The move by ABC was also blasted by leading conservatives like Ted Cruz and former Disney CEO Michael Eisner. In the latest development today, an ABC Sacramento affiliate, the site of a protest the day prior, was hit with gunfire; no one was injured.

    “This sh– ain’t new; it’s worse, we’ll get to that, but ABC, they are steady,” Maher said. “ABC stands for Always Be Caving. So, Jimmy, pal, I am with you, I support you, and on the bright side, you don’t have to pretend anymore that you like Disneyland.”

    Maher continued in his monologue, calling the “intimidation on the right” “so hypocritical.” He made several jokes about corporate kowtowing, including how Good Morning America has changed its name to add the postscript “even the scum who didn’t vote for Trump” and that next year’s Golden Bachelor will be Rudy Giuliani. He added that even Wolf Blitzer would be reporting from “The Capitulation Room” (CNN’s program, with Blizter and Pamela Brown, is called The Situation Room).

    During the show, Maher called out the hosts of The View for ignoring Kimmel’s sidelining for the second day in a row “you know, ’cause it’s never been their thing to weigh in on the issues … it’s just an upbeat party show — that’s why they hired people named Joy [Behar] and Sunny [Hostin] and Whoopi [Goldberg].” (Yesterday, Carr threatened regulatory scrutiny on the talk show, citing the FCC’s equal time rule as his reason for considering such action.)

    Maher noted that he didn’t think what Kimmel said “was exactly right,” but maintained he “doesn’t deserve to lose his job over it.”

    He added, “It is a fool’s errand to try to say that these nuts who do these things are any ‘team’ … This kid [alleged Kirk shooter Tyler Robinson] is in his basement with VR goggles on, getting virtually ass-f—ed by a cartoon wombat [via the game Furry Shades of Gay 3: Still Gayer], and you’re gonna put politics into this? This kid doesn’t belong in either party, he belongs in a straitjacket.”

    Concluding, Maher addressed Kimmel directly: “Pal, you did a great, funny show for two decades; you should be proud of that. If this firing goes for you the way it did for me, you’ll get 23 years on a better network.”

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    Natalie Oganesyan

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  • Disney Faces Protests in Burbank After Jimmy Kimmel Suspension

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    As the late-night TV host is indefinitely suspended, many are fighting back

    Jimmy Kimmel on August 7
    Credit: Los Angeles file photo

    After ABC indefinitely pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air, hundreds answered a last-minute call Thursday to gather outside of Disney’s office in Burbank to protest the decision. 

    Hours before filming the Jimmy Kimmel Live! episode for Wednesday night, Disney CEO Bob Iger and executive Dana Walden decided to “preempt” the show that night. In order to mitigate any damage thrown down on them, after facing threats from the FCC chairman, Brendan Carr. 

    On Monday night during Kimmel’s monologue, the host said, “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.” 

    Two days later, Carr would go on Benny Johnson’s podcast, a right-wing commentator, to criticize the host’s remarks and give a warning to ABC. The company has a “a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr said. 

    “But frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” he said. 

    In response to the threat, ABC indefinitely pulled the late-night talk show. Nexstar, one of the largest station owners in the United States, announced it would drop the show on its 32 affiliate channels shortly before ABC did. 

    Many of the protestors in Burbank are not just showing up for Kimmel, but also looking out for other broadcast and free speech-related issues.

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  • ABC yanks Jimmy Kimmel’s show ‘indefinitely’ after threat from Trump’s FCC chair

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    (CNN) — Disney’s ABC is taking Jimmy Kimmel’s late night talk show off the air indefinitely amid a controversy over his recent comments about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.

    “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be pre-empted indefinitely,” an ABC spokesperson said, declining to share any further details.

    A representative for Kimmel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    The stunning decision came just a few hours after the Trump administration official responsible for licensing ABC’s local stations publicly pressured the company to punish Kimmel.

    At least two major owners of ABC-affiliated stations subsequently said they would preempt Kimmel’s show, sparking speculation that the owners were trying to curry favor with the administration. The local media conglomerates are each seeking mergers that would require administration approval.

    As Kimmel prepared to tape Wednesday night’s episode in Hollywood, ABC decided to pull the plug, much to the astonishment of the entertainment industry.

    Free speech and free expression groups immediately condemned ABC, calling the suspension cowardly, while President Trump, who frequently sparred with Kimmel, celebrated all the way from the UK, where he is on a state visit.

    “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “That leaves Jimmy (Fallon) and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

    The indefinite hiatus underscores how politicized opinions and comments around the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk have become, with high-profile campaigns urging employers to fire people who make comments perceived as unflattering about Kirk.

    And the president has also gone after media companies, specifically, when they displease him, as with a $15 billion defamation lawsuit he filed against the New York Times this week and lawsuits against other outlets.

    During his Monday evening monologue, Kimmel said the MAGA movement was trying to score political points by trying to prove that Kirk’s alleged killer, Tyler Robinson, was not one of its own.

    “The MAGA Gang (is) 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. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

    The ABC late-night host’s remarks constituted “the sickest conduct possible,” FCC chair Brendan Carr told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson on Wednesday. Carr suggested his FCC could move to revoke ABC affiliate licenses as a way to force Disney to punish Kimmel.

    “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

    And speaking on Fox Wednesday night, Carr suggested broadcasters would see more of this kind of pressure in the future.

    “We at the FCC are going to force the public interest obligation. There are broadcasters out there that don’t like it, they can turn in their license in to the FCC,” Carr said. “But that’s our job. Again, we’re making some progress now.”

    But Anna Gomez, the lone Democratic commissioner at the FCC, wrote on X that while “an inexcusable act of political violence by one disturbed individual must never be exploited as justification for broader censorship and control,” the Trump administration “is increasingly using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression.”

    Speaking with CNN’s Erin Burnett after Kimmel’s show was taken off the air, Gomez said “the First Amendment does not allow us, the FCC, to tell broadcasters what they can broadcast.”

    “I saw the clip. He did not make any unfounded claims, but he did make a joke, one that others may even find crude, but that is neither illegal nor grounds for companies to capitulate to this administration in ways that violate the First Amendment,” Gomez told CNN. “This sets a dangerous new precedent, and companies must stand firm against any efforts to trade away First Amendment freedom.”

    Pro-Trump websites and TV shows began to criticize Kimmel for his remarks on Tuesday, and as the story gained traction on Wednesday, some owners of ABC-affiliated stations felt compelled to speak out.

    Local broadcasters get involved

    Nexstar, which operates about two dozen ABC affiliates, issued a press release saying it “strongly objects” to Kimmel’s remarks and saying its stations would “replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”

    Notably, Nexstar is seeking Trump administration approval to acquire another big US station group, Tegna. The deal requires the FCC to loosen the government’s limits on broadcast station ownership.

    Minutes after Nexstar criticized Kimmel publicly, ABC said the show was being yanked nationwide.

    Later in the evening, another big station group, Sinclair, said it had also told ABC that it was preempting Kimmel’s show on its ABC-affiliated stations before the network announced its nationwide decision.

    Sinclair, too, has business pending before the Trump administration, and it made a bid for Tegna a day before Nexstar stepped in with its bid. The company announced Wednesday night that it will air a one-hour special tribute to Kirk on Friday night in Kimmel’s usual time slot.

    Following ABC’s action to indefinitely pull Kimmel’s show off the air, Sinclair issued a statement saying the late-night host’s suspension “is not enough” and called on the network, the FCC and Kimmel to go further.

    “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,” the company said in its statement. “Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return Jimmy Kimmel Live! to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.”

    Sinclair said it demanded Kimmel directly apologize to the Kirk family and make a “meaningful” donation to Kirk’s family and his organization, Turning Point USA.

    The FCC’s role

    The FCC regulates the public airwaves, including broadcast signals and content. Before Trump appointed Carr to lead the agency, the FCC, for the most part, had taken a hands-off approach to broadcasters’ political content in recent years.

    But Carr has taken a broader view of the FCC’s remit to serve the public interest, and has served as a political attack dog for Trump, threatening his perceived enemies in the broadcast media.

    “I can’t imagine another time when we’ve had local broadcasters tell a national programmer like Disney that your content no longer meets the needs and the values of our community,” Carr told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday. “So this is an important turning point.”

    The Center for American Rights, which has previously lodged bias complaints against NBC, ABC and CBS, on Wednesday filed a complaint with the FCC over Kimmel’s comments, writing that “it is no defense to say that Kimmel was engaging in satire or late-night comedy rather than traditional news.”

    “ABC’s affiliates need to step up and hold ABC accountable as a network for passing through material that fails to respect the public-interest standard to which they are held,” Daniel Suhr, president of the Center for American Rights, wrote in the complaint. “Disney as ABC’s corporate owner needs to act directly to correct this problem.”

    SAG-AFTRA, the actors union, said Wednesday night that it “condemns” the suspension of Kimmel’s show.

    “Our society depends on freedom of expression. Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on,” the union said in its statement.

    “The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone’s freedoms.”

    Kimmel has also been a frequent target of President Trump’s ire. Shortly after CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s late-night talk show — a move Carr publicly celebrated — Trump suggested that “Next up will be an even less talented Jimmy Kimmel.”

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    Elizabeth Wagmeister, Liam Reilly and CNN

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