On September 17–18, 2025, ABC abruptly suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program after the host’s monologue about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk set off a firestorm. The reaction was immediate and decisive: once Nexstar and other affiliates signaled they would pre-empt the show, ABC moved to take it off the air indefinitely.
Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr weighed in publicly, warning networks that programming which misleads the public could have regulatory consequences, and station groups like Nexstar and Sinclair responded by pulling the show from their lineups. What unfolded was not just a ratings flap — it became a standoff between major broadcasters, regulators, and local stations that answer to viewers and advertisers.
Conservatives across the country cheered what many saw as overdue accountability: when a host trades punchlines for political grandstanding and reckless insinuation, local stations are right to protect their communities and advertisers. President Trump and numerous right-leaning commentators called ABC’s move a long-overdue correction to late-night leftist bias, and the swift affiliate pull demonstrates that markets and viewers still have real power.
On Rob Schmitt’s show, the reaction was merciless and gleeful — he ridiculed liberal pundits scrambling to defend Kimmel and pointed out the obvious: this isn’t complicated, and the left’s gaslighting won’t save a celebrity who crossed a line. That kind of straight talk is refreshing in an age when coastal elites expect special treatment and then play the free-speech victim when consequences arrive.
Meanwhile, the left’s performative protests and calls for censorship hypocrisy only underscore the double standard. Hollywood and many on the left spent years cheering for “accountability” when conservatives lost jobs, yet now pretend outrage when one of their own finally faces market discipline — the public sees it for what it is: selective outrage.
Patriots who love free speech also understand free speech isn’t a shield against repercussions; broadcasters must serve the public interest, advertisers, and the communities that receive their signals. If ABC wants to rebuild trust it should stop kowtowing to coastal celebrity culture and start listening to the hardworking Americans whose airtime and ad dollars actually matter — and the rest of us should keep laughing at lefties who rush to defend the indefensible.
