Jimmy Kimmel Show Suspension: Donald Trump As 'Great-Grandfather'? Late-Night Hosts Address Free Speech Crisis

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Fallon began their Thursday late-night shows blending humour and support for suspended ABC host Jimmy Kimme . Stewart used satire to criticise ABC's indefinite suspension of“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” after Kimmel's remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, AP reported.

Colbert took a more serious tone, describing the suspension as“blatant censorship.”

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Fallon featured guests Jude Law, journalist Tom Llamas, and actor-singer Jonathan Groff, but none of them spoke about Kimmel's situation.

Stewart and Colbert interviewed guests who could address censorship concerns raised by Kimmel's suspension. Journalist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Maria Ressa spoke to Stewart.

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When Stewart asked Ressa, the author of“How to Stand Up to a Dictator,” for tips on coping with the current moment, Ressa recounted how she and her colleagues at the news site Rappler“just kept going” when she was faced with 11 arrest warrants in one year under Philippine then-President Rodrigo Duterte.

“We just kept doing our jobs. We just kept putting one foot in front of the other,” Ressa said.

Stewart makes special appearance to skewer Kimmel suspension

Stewart's show opened with a voiceover promising adherence to the party line.

“We have another fun, hilarious administration-compliant show,” it said.

He lavished praise on the president and satirised his criticism of large cities and his deployment of the National Guard to fight their crime.

“Coming to you tonight from the real (expletive), the crime-ridden cesspool that is New York City. It is a tremendous disaster like no one's ever seen before. Someone's National Guard should invade this place, am I right?” Stewart said.

Also Read: 'Against Trump's Bullying': Free Speech Debate SHAKES U.S. After Jimmy Kimmel Fired Over Kirk Joke

“The Daily Show” set was refashioned with decorative gold engravings, in a parody of gold accents Trump has added to the fireplace, doorway arches, walls and other areas of the Oval Office.

Stewart fidgeted nervously as though he was worried about speaking the correct talking points. When the audience members reacted with an“awww” he whispered,“What are you doing? Shut up. You're going to (expletive) blow this for us.”

He took on a more stilted tone when he started describing Trump's visit to the United Kingdom, calling the president“our great father.”

“Gaze upon him. With a gait even more majestic than that of the royal horses that prance before him,” he said.

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Stewart normally hosts only on Mondays. The Emmy winner helmed“The Daily Show” from 1999 through 2015, delivering sharp, satirical takes on politics and current events and interviews with newsmakers. He returned to host once a week during the run-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Fallon opened his“Tonight Show” monologue addressing Kimmel's suspension.“To be honest with you all, I don't know what's going on. And no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he's a decent, funny and loving guy, and I hope he comes back.”

Swift suspension after remarks on Kirk's assassination

Kimmel made several remarks about the reaction to Kirk's killing on“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Monday and Tuesday nights, including that“many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.”

ABC suspended Kimmel's show after a group of ABC-affiliated stations said it would not air the show, and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said his agency had a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading misinformation.

'The Late Show' hosts past and present address suspension

Colbert started his monologue on Thursday with the animated song“Be Our Guest” from Disney's“Beauty and the Beast,” but replaced the lyrics with“Shut your trap. Shut your trap.”

He later addressed Kimmel directly, saying that he stands with him and his staff.“If ABC thinks that this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive,” he said.

He also responded to remarks Carr made that it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming“they determine falls short of community values.”

“Well, you know what my community values are, buster? Freedom of speech,” Colbert said to loud applause from his audience.

When Colbert talked with New Yorker editor David Remnick about Kimmel's suspension, he said,“What we are seeing now is the government acting at the direction of the president of the United States to put pressure on, to manipulate, to silence and even to shut down institutions of the free word."

David Letterman, Colbert's predecessor on“The Late Show,” lamented the networks' moves.

“I feel bad about this, because we all see where see this is going, correct? It's managed media,” Letterman said during an appearance Thursday at The Atlantic Festival 2025 in New York.“It's no good. It's silly. It's ridiculous.”

He added that people shouldn't be fired just because they don't“suck up” to what Letterman called“an authoritarian” president.

(With inputs from AP)

Key Takeaways

• Censorship in media is a pressing issue that affects freedom of expression.
• Late-night hosts play a crucial role in addressing political and social issues through satire.
• Solidarity among comedians can amplify the message against censorship and highlight its dangers.

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