Entertainers, politicians and media personalities weighed in Monday about ABC’s decision to return Jimmy Kimmel Live! to television, with some celebrating the decision as a victory for free speech, while others said the suspension was too short.
The announcement that ABC was bringing back the show came just days after the network said it was suspending it.
Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, had criticised comments made by its host, Jimmy Kimmel, about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Critics of the suspension saw it as a threat to Americans’ constitutional rights, while others described the move as long overdue.
The announcement on Monday night that the show would return to the air reignited that debate, as reactions to the news poured in.
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In a post on social platform X, California governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, expressed gratitude to “everyone but @BrendanCarrFCC,” tagging Carr in the post.
“This is a win for free speech everywhere,” Newsom wrote.
Senator Chuck Schumer of New York wrote in a post on X that Kimmel’s return was about fighting for the first amendment rights and “against these abuses by Donald Trump and Brendan Carr”.
Anna M Gomez, the sole Democratic commissioner of the FCC, who condemned the move in a letter published last week, applauded Disney for “its courage in the face of clear government intimidation.”
“More importantly, I want to thank those Americans from across the ideological spectrum who spoke loudly and courageously against this blatant attempt to silence free speech,” Gomez said in a statement.
Not everyone saw Kimmel’s return to late night as a victory.
Megyn Kelly, the former Fox News anchor turned YouTube host, said in a post on X that it “must be nice to be a leftist. ”'Cancellation’ lasts 5 nights and you’re right back under klieg lights,” Kelly wrote. “On the right you’re underground.”
Matt Walsh, a conservative commentator, echoed Kelly’s comments.
“Kimmel’s show was put on pause for like three days and yet leftists will look us dead in the eyes and tell us that this was a greater attack on free speech than shooting and killing Charlie Kirk,” Walsh wrote in a post on X.
Earlier on Monday, more than 500 actors, comedians, directors, musicians and writers joined the American Civil Liberties Union in publishing an open letter describing the decision to cancel Kimmel’s show as unconstitutional and un-American.
Signatories included Laura Dern, Ariana Grande, Tiffany Haddish, Ron Howard, John Mulaney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sean Penn, Ryan Reynolds, Barbra Streisand and Channing Tatum.
“We can rest assured this won’t be the administration’s last attempt to pressure private companies into punishing employees for speech it does not like,” Anthony D Romero, the executive director of the union, said in a statement after the announcement of Kimmel’s return.
“Let this be a lesson to companies who consider caving: We the people are watching, and we’ll remember who stood strong in defence of free expression, and who followed the federal government’s bidding.”
Actor and director Ben Stiller celebrated the news with three raised hands emoji. – This article originally appeared in The New York Times
