Nino Paoli is a Dow Jones News Fund fellow at Fortune on the News desk. In the aftermath of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show suspension, conservative politicians and media personalities are sounding the alarm on free speech. Amid pressure from the Federal Communications Commission, Disney’s ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live!
on Wednesday night over remarks Kimmel made earlier in the week about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggested ABC affiliates could face fines or have their licenses revoked if they continued airing Kimmel’s show.
He also told CNBC that “we’re not done yet.” Although some conservatives have supported the broadcast network’s actions, others like Sen. Ted Cruz are also saying the FCC is going too far. “I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired,” he said on Friday on his podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz.
“But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media, have said, we’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like’—that will end up bad for conservatives.”
Published: September 20, 2025 6:11 pm
Source: Fortune — Read original