Jimmy Kimmel's Firing is an Affront to Free Speech

I'm currently on vacation, but I'm also in a hotel room trying to relax after an absolutely magical day in Brussels (I will be doing a post about my vacation, and some thoughts I had on it, when I'm done next week...I am only at the halfway point as of right now of the trip & attempting to stay in the moment).  But I am trying to get myself on a proper sleeping schedule, and so I have some time to write an article in my hotel room, and thought that I needed to address the true elephant in the room from a political (and American) perspective: what is happening right now to Jimmy Kimmel.

I have been in a lot of mass transit the past 72 hours, and because it's been raining I haven't brought a book to a lot of it as I didn't want my books to get wet, and so I have been on social media more than usual (also, I'm without a travel companion, and need someone to talk to, and given the 7-hour time difference to most of my friends, Twitter is as good of place as any), and so I've read a lot about this, and if you haven't, I should probably ground you in what's happening.  On September 15th, Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night show on ABC, made a few comments about the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk.  I'm going to quote some things verbatim here to make sure there's no confusion.  Kimmel said "we hit some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from them."  He then made a comment that there had been "some criticism" of President Trump flying the flags at half mast, and then showed a video clip of Donald Trump being asked about the murder of Charlie Kirk (the report asking characterized Kirk as a "friend" of Trump's) and Trump responded by talking about the new renovations at the Rose Garden.  Afterward Kimmel's zinger was "this is not how an adult mourns a friend, this is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish."

We're going to dissect a couple of things here, but I think it's important to note in that comment that what Kimmel said is not demonstrably false.  There was question online about whether or not Kirk was worthy of flying the flags at half mast (particularly the duration of how long it was happening).  Kimmel did not, for the record, say that Tyler Robinson was MAGA, but just that he thought that MAGA supporters were pushing hard for him to be labeled as a left-wing extremist (which is true-everyone from Nancy Mace to Donald Trump said as much), nor did he allege that Robinson wasn't MAGA (he may have implied it, admittedly, but he didn't say that).  He also said that Kirk's death was being used to score political points, which, again, is provably true.  Tucker Carlson, for example, has actively been fundraising on behalf of the Kirk Family, despite the Kirks having a net worth estimated at over $12 million.  And of course the clip of President Trump was legitimate-it was not doctored in a specific way and the president's reply was not taken out of context.  Nothing that Kimmel said could remotely be considered libelous.

I want to say that because many of the criticisms of Kimmel from the right have felt, quite frankly, a bit indulgent.  Kimmel did not, for the record, mock Kirk in any way, nor his wife, nor his family, nor what happened.  His joke was entirely at the expense of President Trump, and the Republicans who are talking openly about Tyler Robinson's motives (which, again, we don't know).  Whether or not you think it's appropriate for Kimmel to make these comments at all is entirely your right.  In America, we have freedom of speech, and it is totally your right as an American to call Kimmel callous, cruel, or to even ask for him to be fired from his show as a result of what he said.  He's a public figure, and you have that right (as does he).

FCC Chair Brendan Carr

In the wake of Kimmel's comments, though, something happened that threatened Jimmy Kimmel's right to free speech.  In an interview with Benny Johnson (a conservative podcast host), FCC Chair Brendan Carr said (again, quoting verbatim as words & accuracy matter), "We can do this the easy way or the hard way.  These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."  Hours later (again, timelines matter here), NexStar and ABC both announced that they would not be airing Kimmel's show, and ABC (owned by Disney) said it would be on halt "indefinitely."  Donald Trump said after the firing "they gave me only bad publicity and press.  I mean, they're getting a license.  I would think maybe their license should be taken away."  Trump would go on on social media calling out other programs, encouraging NBC to fire late night hosts Jimmy Fallon & Seth Meyers, and Carr threatened investigative action into the daytime talk show The View.

Let's unpack a couple of things here, starting with perhaps the most important point-of-clarification: did Kimmel's firing violate his right to free speech?  Americans know that you cannot be imprisoned for free speech, but that it has consequences, and frequently these can impact the person who said them in terms of their employment.  A notable case of this happened during the first Trump administration, actress Roseanne Barr was fired from her eponymous TV show for using racist language on Twitter.  Had Kimmel been fired by ABC for his comments solely, or if his sponsors had threatened to walk, that would've been fine in terms of his right to free speech (it might have violated his contract with ABC, but that's a whole different matter, and certainly not one worthy of national conversation).

But freedom of speech isn't just about not going to prison...it's also free from interference from practicing free speech from the government.  If it was a case that Kimmel was fired not because of ABC or its affiliates or his show's sponsors, but because of public (or private) pressure from Trump, Carr, & the FCC, then Kimmel's freedom of speech was violated as it is illegal (under the Constitution) for the government to threaten to use their power to punish Americans (or American companies) for exercising their freedom of speech.  Because Carr said this publicly, threatening Disney & NexStar, and because Trump has subsequently threatened to remove the licenses of networks that criticize him, this is a flagrant, provable violation of Kimmel's free speech.

This is very serious, and I think sometimes when it comes to comedians people get dismissive, so before I finish up, I want to say three things.  First, it doesn't matter if "Jimmy Kimmel will be fine."  Kimmel, yes, has an estimated net worth of over $50 million, and can hole up in a random European country and live like a king for the rest of his life if he wants-he's still an American, and it's serious if he has his right to free speech taken away.  Second, it doesn't matter if you agree with Kimmel said or if you thought the joke was appropriate (or funny).  Personally, I wouldn't have made it, certainly not at the work place, because I would worry about offending (and because it's not really my brand of humor)...but I also would make a lousy comedian.  But that's not the point.  Freedom of speech only matters if it protects ALL speech, including (and especially) the speech you disagree with...if only speech that you agree with is protected under the law, then no one except the President has the right to free speech, which is a thoroughly un-American belief.

And third, and most importantly, this is not an isolated event.  In July, the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes settled a lawsuit with Trump ahead of a merger deal, giving the President $16 million that the news show's chief Bill Owens said had destroyed the show's independence.  Later that month, CBS fired Stephen Colbert and cancelled his Late Show program just one week ahead of a merger between Skydance and Paramount (CBS's parent company).  Both of these gave the appearance of being bribes to the Trump administration, as Colbert has been a vocal critic of the president.  A number of US Senators (including Adam Schiff, Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, & Bernie Sanders) have alleged that these were coordinated, which again would have been a violation of Colbert's free speech, and essentially of the CBS News division's.  Taken in this light, Trump's comments about Jimmy Fallon & Seth Meyers, coupled with Carr's comments on the television program The View, feel particularly ominous, specifically given these show's histories of criticism and humor at President Trump's expense.

To conclude-I want to be very clear-it doesn't matter if you agree with what Jimmy Kimmel said (or if you like him, or if you ever watched his show).  This is beyond the concept of "cancel culture" where figures like Louis CK, Tucker Carlson, & Bill O'Reilly lost their shows or their movie contracts-all of that was done by private enterprise, not the government...a VERY big distinction.  Freedom of speech only matters if it's free for everyone, and if the government does not put pressure on private enterprises and citizens to match the specific values of those in power.  It is vitally important that we stand with Jimmy Kimmel, and that this cannot go unresolved or be dismissed as "just a news cycle story," because if it can happen to him...it can happen to you too.