As we all know, the American comedy host Jimmy Kimmel had his show suspended temporarily, with talks suggesting it might be canceled.
When it happened, this was revealed to be a result of Mr. Kimmel addressing comments on the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk, an American “right-wing” political activist and social media personality. Kimmel said in a Monday evening monologue that the “MAGA movement” was trying to score political points by trying to prove that Kirk’s suspected killer Tyler Robinson wasn’t one of their own.
While a decent amount of the general viewers thought it to be a harmful joke, other local broadcasters, notably Nexstar and Sinclair, strongly objected to Jimmy’s remarks and immediately asked to replace the show with other programming in their affiliated markets. Therefore, everyone has recently had the same question in mind, “How is Jimmy Kimmel’s show back up now?”
It is said that the two major station groups that were listed named “Sinclair and Nexstar” who have preempted the show that same month, allowed Kimmel’s show to return to specific ABC relations after Sinclair initially refused to air it and Nexstar planned to continue preempting it. Although this had all been in effect, nothing went unpunished for Kimmel. Nexstar wanted Jimmy Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family and make a donation to Kirk’s political organization, even though the company didn’t state that as a condition.
However, both Sinclair and Nexstar had previously been accused of attempting to “curry favor” with President Trump by keeping Kimmel off the air, even after ABC reinstated him nationally. The two claimed that their preemptions weren’t influenced by the government, attempting to lead ABC to preempt the show nationwide. Sinclair specifically thought that formal discussions should be held with ABC on how to strengthen the network’s “professionalism and accountability.”
After Sinclair and ABC had disagreements on strengthening these two, Sinclair stated that “While ABC and Disney have not yet adopted these measures, and Sinclair respects their right to make those decisions under our network affiliate agreements, we believe such measures could strengthen trust and accountability,” making Sinclair and even Nexstar to take even more action on addressing their concerns on constructive approaches by inviting Disney executive officials.
Eventually, the station’s owner defended the station, explaining that they only attempted to be “stewards of the public airwaves” and wanted to “protect and reflect the specific sensibilities of our communities.” Therefore, as of now, most Nexstar stations from Syracuse to Salt Lake City are resuming the late show. So finally, when Jimmy Kimmel got his show up and running again, he decided to address how he’s had his second-highest-rated show in over 20 years on air. He was also open so much as to thank President Donald Trump for getting the “Trump bump”, even after being preempted in 60 American cities. Even though Jimmy Kimmel’s show has returned on air in most cities, Nexstar has made it clear that they will, in a way monitor Mr. Kimmel’s late-night show. They said that they will “keep pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
Some others are glad to see Kimmel’s show is back, but they feel that it wouldn’t end there, as Jake Tapper (an American News Journalist) was open on another late-night show with Seth Meyers to calling it “a domino effect”. He ends his statement with Myers by saying, “We’ll see what happens when they come for Comcast,” NBC’s parent, “and we’ll see what happens when they come for Warner Bros. Discovery”, clearly concerned for the future of shows or companies and their use of free speech.
However, some view all of this as a public rebuke to “right-wing activists” and as a vindication of free speech, while others see it as a reflection of the power that national networks have over local affiliates. When a few Mercy University students were approached about this, two of them had different opinions on the same problem.
One in admissions named Elias suggests, “Yeah, Kimmel’s a good person. Even though I don’t know what he said exactly, I know he meant it to be a joke, and he wouldn’t purposely harm one’s family after a situation like that. It should be fine that he gets the show back.”,
Another student who wishes not to be named said, “I think he should’ve stayed out of mentioning them entirely and it was just karma for what happened to Kimmel. Now that he has the show back, who cares?”
Is it time to agree to disagree that it’s a win for Jimmy Kimmel, rather than using the recent situation to excuse other beliefs and movements on activism or power.
