Posted in: ABC, TV | Tagged: ABC, disney, jimmy kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel Returns: FCC Chair Looks to Clarify Previous Comments

Before Disney/ABC announced Jimmy Kimmel's return, FCC's Brendan Carr tried to clarify his "easy way or the hard way" comment from last week.

Amid pushback from across the entertainment industry landscape, across the political aisle in Washington, D.C., and across the country, The Walt Disney Company-owned ABC announced earlier today that late-night host Jimmy Kimmel would return on Tuesday night. Disney's decision came after Federal Communications Commission (FCC) head Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel's comments regarding the late conservative activist and advisor Charlie Kirk during an interview, urging local ABC affiliates to take action against the late-night host. Shortly after, Nexstar and Sinclair, owners of a large number of ABC affiliates, announced that they were removing Kimmel's show from that local stations.

Now, Carr is looking to defend himself and the FCC from accusations of government overreach, and that the commissioner was looking to infringe on free speech by clarifying his "we can do this the easy way or the hard way" during the Concordia Summit in New York earlier today. Stating that a threat to pull licenses from ABC stations for not taking action against Kimmel "did not happen in any way, shape or form," Carr added, "what I spoke about last week is that when concerns are raised about news distortion … there's an easy way for parties to address that and work that out. In the main, that takes place between local television stations that are licensed by the FCC and what we call national programmers like Disney. They work that out, and there doesn't need to be any involvement of the FCC." The FCC head continued, "Now, if they don't, there's a way that is not as easy, which is someone can file a complaint at the FCC, and then the FCC, by law, as set up by Congress, has to adjudicate that complaint. And what I've been very clear in the context of the Kimmel episode, is the FCC, and myself in particular, have expressed no view on the ultimate merits."

Last Wednesday, Carr addressed the matter during an interview with YouTube personality Benny Johnson. "[This] appears to be an action by Jimmy Kimmel to play into the narrative that this was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person. What people don't understand is that the broadcasters … have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. When we see stuff like this, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, on Kimmel, or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead," Carr said.

Carr continued, "I think you see some lashing out from people like Kimmel, who are frankly talentless and are looking for ways to get attention. Their grip on the narrative is slipping. That doesn't mean that it's not still important to hold the public interest standard … We have a rule on the book that interprets the public interest standard that says 'news distortion' is something that is prohibited … the FCC has stepped back from enforcing it … I think it's past time these [affiliates] themselves push back on Comcast and this and say, 'Listen, we're not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we're running the possibility of license revocation from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion.' So I think again, Disney needs to see some change here."

"Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country," Disney said in an official statement earlier today, announcing Kimmel's return. "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday."

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!