Kimmel’s suspension worries advocates

Government involvement raises concerns about First Amendment rights

Taylor Seely and Angele Latham

USA TODAY NETWORK

ABC pulled comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show following veiled threats from the Federal Communications Commission and now President Donald Trump has called on the FCC to revoke the broadcast licenses of stations that criticize him.

Both moves mark escalations by government officials in stifling free speech since the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, First Amendment advocates warn.

Before Trump’s remarks Sept. 18, free speech advocates had already criticized Kimmel’s suspension and, in particular, FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s role. ABC announced the “indefinite” suspension of Kimmel and his show hours after Carr called for it on a rightwing podcast.

“That’s a very vivid example to the public of government pressure on private speakers to suppress speech,” Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said about Carr’s comments that ABC could “do it the easy way or the hard way.”

Trump defended Carr’s statements

and went further when asked about them by reporters.

“They’re 97% against – they give me only bad publicity or press,” Trump claimed about his coverage on TV networks while aboard Air Force One.

“I mean, they’re getting a license. I would think maybe their license should be taken away. It will be up to Brendan Carr.”

Three days earlier, Vice President JD Vance and Trump’s deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller said the administration would “go after” left-leaning organizations they say have incited violence.

Those threats, the policing of negative speech about Kirk online, and statements made by Attorney General Pam Bondi regarding prosecuting hate speech all have contributed to an environment that Steinbaugh said is not “healthy” for the First Amendment.

Kimmel under fire

Kimmel’s suspension came after Carr was asked by Benny Johnson, a rightwing political commentator, about the comedian’s Sept. 15 monologue.

Kimmel had said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Johnson blasted the remarks as attempts to justify violence and blame Kirk for his own death.

Carr responded that broadcasters “have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said.

“These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

The statement appeared to contradict Carr’s previous comments. In 2019, he wrote on social media, “The FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the ‘public interest.’ ” The FCC regulates radio and broadcast stations nationwide. National television networks such as ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox are not granted licenses by the FCC. Instead, the FCC issues licenses to individual local broadcast affiliates authorizing the stations to use public airwaves.

Within hours of Carr’s comments, Nexstar Media Group Inc., which operates 32 ABC affiliates, announced it would stop airing Kimmel’s show.

Nexstar is seeking FCC approval to acquire the broadcast company Tegna. Approval would require lifting the station ownership limit, which bans broadcasters from reaching more than 39% of the national audience.

Nexstar has rejected claims it suspended the show over pressure from the government.

ABC followed suit, announcing the “indefinite” suspension of Kimmel and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

This is not the first time ABC has been a target of the Trump administration.

The network paid nearly $15 million following a December 2024 settlement after Trump sued for defamation.

Anchor George Stephanopoulos had asked why a member of Congress supported Trump despite his being found “liable for rape” in a 2023 civil case.

In that Manhattan case, Trump was found liable for sexual abuse, not rape.

First Amendment experts say a crackdown by members of the government on free speech poses serious and direct risks to the public.

Steinbaugh and Eugene Volokh, a First Amendment scholar and professor of law emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, both pointed to Bondi’s misrepresentation of hate speech as legally unprotected and the FCC’s role in Kimmel’s suspension.

“It’s not good when the attorney general of the United States threads inaccurate legal analysis to the public,” Volokh said.

Bondi later clarified that the Justice Department would target hate speech that leads to violence.

Both Steinbaugh and Volokh said that sort of government pressure also happened under the Biden administration, which wanted social media companies to remove inaccurate comments related to COVID-19.

The USA TODAY Network’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.