Posted in: ABC, CBS, NBC, TV | Tagged: jimmy kimmel

Colbert, Fallon, and Meyers Address ABC Suspending Jimmy Kimmel

Returning to their late-night shows, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers addressed ABC's indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel.

On Wednesday, ABC announced that it had "pre-empted indefinitely" Jimmy Kimmel, a move that came at the end of a day that began with Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr urging local network affiliates to remove Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their stations over Kimmel's comments regarding Tyler Robinson, the suspect who has been charged with killing conservative activist and advisor Charlie Kirk. From there, Nexstar and Sinclair would announce that the show was being removed from their stations beginning this Friday, with Sinclair adding a list of concessions they would need from Kimmel for it to reconsider their decision. On Thursday night, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth Meyers returned to their respective late-night shows, with Kimmel's suspension being the top topic for each of them. Here's a look at what each had to share:

NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon": Fallon began his monologue by addressing the topic, sharing, "To be honest with you all, I don't know what's going on—no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, funny, and loving guy. And I hope he comes back." From there, Fallon reassured the crowd that he would cover Trump's recent trip to the U.K. exactly as he would before. But when Fallon reached the punchline of his first Trump-related joke, a narrator spoke over what Fallon was saying to offer compliments about Trump.

CBS's "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert": Referring to ABC's decision to pull Kimmel's show as "blatant censorship" and noting that "with an autocrat, you cannot give an inch," Colbert made his support for his fellow late-night host clear: "Jimmy, I stand with you and your staff one hundred percent." From there, Colbert's monologue addressed the specifics of what's transpired over the past 48 hours.

"Shortly after Carr made his statements about ABC, Kimmel gets yanked off the air. This decision came after senior executives at ABC, Disney, and affiliates convened emergency meetings during which multiple execs felt that Kimmel had not actually said anything over the line, but the threat of Trump administration retaliation loomed. As one source at ABC put it, they were pissing themselves all day. On the bright side, that proves Disney is number one in streaming," Colbert shared.

The late-night host continued, "Carr was quick to reassure everyone posting, 'While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.' Well, you know what my community values are, buster? Freedom of speech."

Colbert would also have an animated message to send with "Disney's Message To Employees: Shut Your Trap" (to the tune of "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast:

NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers": After kicking things off with some mock praising of Trump and writing off any videos of him telling jokes at Trump's expense as "AI" and "deepfakes," Meyers offered a rundown of Trump's recent second visit to the U.K.. After playing a clip of Trump taking credit for restoring free speech, Meyers cut to this week's recent events and showed how Trump celebrated the decisions on social media. "Trump promised to end government censorship and bring back free speech," Meyers shared. "And he is doing the opposite… we're rapidly devolving into oppressive autocracy in the style of Russia or Hungary."

Near the end of his segment, Meyers turned his attention to Kimmel. "It is a privilege and an honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend. In the same way that it's a privilege and an honor to do this show… We're gonna keep doing our show the way we've always done it—with enthusiasm and integrity," he continued. "There's a reason free speech is in the very first amendment. It stands above all others," Meyers added, noting that this was a "pivitol" moment in the fight for free speech.

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