[State Sponsored Cancel Culture] Disney cancels the Jimmy Kimmel Show after government pressure

Kimmel being pulled off air after the FCC forced him off. Thats what happened, you saw it. This has nothing to do with ratings or whatever.

This isnt right and you know it. This is wrong.

Why did I even have to explain that to you in this thread? You know what I was getting at.

 

Who knew the invisible hand of capitalism was actually Donald Trump.

Trump, a frequent critic of Kimmel and the entire late-night host lineup, first took to Truth Social late Wednesday, Sept. 18, to deride Kimmel's ratings and throw some shots at Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon.

"Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED. Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done," Trump wrote. "Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT"


https://www.usatoday.com/story/ente...kimmel-suspension-trump-reaction/86214366007/

 

okay, I've parsed you're concerned about the alleged censorship of Kimmel by the Trump administration. First and foremost: I disagree with the premise. I disagree that this is censorship. I'll agree that the Trump administration via the FCC chair Carr applied some (gentle IMO) pressure on ABC deal with (a) Kimmel but also (b) its larger more significant partisan programming in general. I stress "gentle," and that's where I don't think it crosses anywhere near a line on censorship.

If ABC really cared about Kimmel and/or its broadcasting freedom, they would have nodded politely and just let Kimmel keep doing his thing. Instead, an hour after Carr got done with his remarks on a podcast, they suspended Kimmel's show. NO ORGANIZATION IN THE WORLD makes a decision that fast. The fact that Kimmel got the axe just a couple of hours later is evidence (good evidence, I think) that Kimmel's days were numbered long before Carr's podcast.

And if ABC felt like they were in the right, they should basically have told Carr and Trump to go pound sand. Kimmel made a pretty severe error in judgment; he failed to read the room and sense the zeitgeist re: the Charlie Kirk killing; and now he's out.

I'll use an example for comparison from my own direct recent experience. Our university had a slew of DEI, affirmative action, and OCR complaints come in over the summer. Where other universities (e.g., Harvard most significantly) swallowed their pride and paid the "fines" in order to free up the research gravy train monies again, our university went about matters a bit more deliberately and a little more carefully. In some cases where the university shared some of the blame for actions taken by university personnel, the institution sucked it up, agreed to settle, and like Harvard, paid the "fines."

In at least ONE case, however, there was a set of charges against the university that were so outlandish, so divorced from reality, and so trumped up out of thin air that, after about a minute's deliberation, the institution decided the only principled response would be to tell the Trump administration to "GO POUND SAND." And that is what the university did, at least on this one case, because on principle it mattered not to even dignify the charges with some sort of compromised, prudential response.

ABC could have told Trump to pound sand. Maybe ABC senses that they share a portion of the blame for Kimmel's remarks. Maybe ABC is making a principled, albeit prudential and calculated decision that the ends (whatever those are) justify the means (capitulating in this instance and suspending Kimmel's show). We cannot know ABC's full reasoning behind its decision; we can only guess.

But my guess is that Kimmel's time at ABC was drawing to a close and ABC simply ended the relationship sooner than expected.

 

our responses crossed in the ether. sorry for not grasping the "this" right away

 

Sums it up very nicely.

DD

 

Don’t like what exactly? Government overreach? Government dictating what kind of jokes or humor they seem acceptable. Government threatening business to do their bidding. I thought you were more of less government oversight. That’s why you voted libertarian in the past. Unless of course that was all of a lie.

 

related

 

https://bsky.app/profile/wgawest.bsky.social/post/3lz3d7bckp22t

 

Who in the government got Roseanne Barr shitcanned?

 

That guy is unstable. He blew up my inbox and tried to stalk me. If anything they’d arrest him

 

The FCC chair explicitly threatening regulatory consequences unless ABC deals with Kimmel is really not gentle pressure. This is about chilling speech that Trump and his movement don’t like (which, ironically, was essentially the deeply offending point Kimmel was making with his remarks). I wouldn’t assume that ABC, a high profile political target for Trump, would not be punished financially if they told them to “pound sound”.

 

my recollection of the remarks (I don't have them memorized) is that he was making a general statement about partisan broadcasting in general (not being in the public interest), and using Kimmel in followup as a specific example. I reject the claim that the "FCC explicitly threaten{ed} regulatory consequences unless ABC deals with Kimmel."

An explicit threat is "IF you don't fire Kimmel, THEN I will pull your station licenses." That is an explicit threat. Musing out loud that there might be consequences unless ABC gets its house in order does not in my mind constitute an explicit threat.

 

I'm sorry, but is there video of the FCC chair standing next to the head of ABC, and the FCC chair saying, "OK, ABC Man, if you do not suspend Jimmy Kimmel, we, the FCC, are going to take away your broadcasting license", and the head of ABC responding, "OK, FCC Man, I understand that if we do not suspend Jimmy Kimmel, you will take away our broadcasting license, and because of this information, I, ABC Man, will immediately suspend Jimmy Kimmel in accordance with your threat", and the FCC chair replying, "Thank you ABC Man, I, FCC Man, am happy that you are suspending Jimmy Kimmel, and that will make my boss, Donald J. Trump, current President of the United States of America, very happy, because he ordered me to threaten you to suspend Jimmy Kimmel or ABC, the company for which you are designated as ABC Man, will lose its broadcasting license"?

Huh??? You see that video??? Then where's your proof???

 

Yep.

He laughs and mocks reporters, newspapers, and media because he can't stand being ridiculed or painted in the fake light he wants, and it infuriates that thin skinned old narcissistic creep. He is acting like an Autocrat fueled with hate and revenge.

Meanwhile, his approval ratings are plummeting since he took office. Corporate America cowering to another billionaire is gross, but this is America under a wannabe King, who doesn't give a rat's ass about ordinary Americans, free speech, free press, civil rights, the homeless and poor, the middle class, Democracy and the Constitution.

 

I'm having a hard time locating the Benny Johnson interview with Carr that started this whole thing. If you could share a link, and possibly also a transcript of Carr's remarks, that would be helpful.

 

You are selectively applying nuance, consideration, rationalization and reasoning to an extreme degree lol.