Late-night hosts reacted to Jimmy Kimmel's suspension with the sharpest tools in their kit: comedy and defiance

Late-night hosts responded to Jimmy Kimmel's suspension.Greg Allen/Invision/AP, AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, Jae C. Hong/Invision/APLate-night hosts did not mince words when talking about Jimmy Kimmel's show being suspended.Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, and Jimmy Fallon talked on Thursday night about the move.Disney suspended Kimmel's show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" indefinitely.Late-night hosts, past and present, have responded with satire and defiance after the suspension of one of their own, Jimmy Kimmel.On Thursday night, it was the who's who of late-night comedy: Stephen Colbert, whose own show was not renewed; NBC's Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, who have both received threats from President Donald Trump; and the "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart, who has consistently defended his colleagues.Kimmel's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was suspended indefinitely by Disney on Wednesday under pressure from Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, and a prominent company that owns ABC affiliate stations, Nexstar.Nexstar and another ABC affiliate owner, Sinclair, pulled Kimmel's show off the air "indefinitely." Sinclair said the suspension would remain "until formal discussions are held with ABC about the network's commitment to professionalism and accountability."The suspension came after Kimmel made comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and mocked Trump's response to the incident. Kimmel's suspension and the political uproar that followed have raised questions over speech freedom and the First Amendment.Sinclair also called for Kimmel to apologize to Kirk's family.Stephen ColbertStephen Colbert said he does not joke about other people's tragedies.Scott Kowalchyk/CBS via Getty ImagesStephen Colbert, whose namesake late-night show is set to be pulled off the air in May, defended Kimmel during his opening monologue on Thursday night.He started the show saying, "Tonight, we are all Jimmy Kimmel," calling the suspension "blatant censorship.""The Late Show" posted a clip of Colbert's comments on Kimmel on its Instagram account. The post was captioned, "The Late Show stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his staff."In his monologue, Colbert referenced a report from Rolling Stone on Wednesday about Kimmel and ABC."As one source at ABC put it, they were pissing themselves all day. On the bright side, that proves Disney is No. 1 at streaming," Colbert said.Colbert then cited an X post that the FCC's Carr wrote on Wednesday. Carr said it was important for broadcasters to oppose "programming that they determine falls short of community values.""Well, you know what my community values are, buster? Freedom of speech," Colbert said on Thursday, to loud cheers from the audience."People across the country are shocked by this blatant assault on the freedom of speech," he added.The Jimmy Kimmel fallout is ramping up. Get caught up here:Here's what Jimmy Kimmel said about Charlie Kirk on his late-night show that got him pulled off the airThere's a $6.2 billion deal looming over Jimmy Kimmel's suspensionLate-night TV is under threat from Trump and a precarious business modelThese are the demands ABC-affiliate Sinclair is making to air Jimmy Kimmel againPeter Kafka: The Trump administration forcing Jimmy Kimmel off the air is bad. Very bad.Late-night hosts reacted to Jimmy Kimmel's suspension with the sharpest tools in their kit: comedy and defianceI went to a protest at Disney over Jimmy Kimmel's suspension. It wasn't just about one comedian.Jimmy FallonJimmy Fallon said he's read up on the benefits of nose breathing.NBC/ Getty ImagesJimmy Fallon, the host of "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," said in a Thursday episode that he hoped Kimmel's show would make a comeback.He started off the segment with a joke: "Well, guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking 'WTF.'"Joking about how he and Kimmel share the same first name, Fallon said he woke up to 100 text messages from his father expressing sorrow that his show was canceled.But then he adopted a somber tone, saying, "But 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. I hope he comes back," he said, to loud cheers and applause from the audience.Jon StewartJon Stewart.The Daily ShowIn a Thursday episode of "The Daily Show," the host Jon Stewart adopted a sarcastic and satirical tone while discussing Kimmel's suspension.While Stewart typically hosts the show on Mondays, the show announced on Thursday that he would host another episode that night."I don't know who this Johnny Drimmel Live ABC character is. But the point is, our great administration has laid out very clear rules on free speech," Stewart said in his opening monologue.He didn't directly defend Kimmel in the segment, but he made a series of pointed remarks about Trump, at one point calling the president our "dear leader.""We have another fun, hilarious, administration-compliant show," he said, and pretended to quiet the audience when they laughed.Seth MeyersSeth Meyers on the February 16, 2023 episode of "Late Night with Seth Meyers."Lloyd Bishop/NBC via Getty ImagesIn a Thursday night episode of his series "A Closer Look," Seth Meyers said Kimmel's suspension has become a "big moment in our democracy."Joking about the Trump administration's crackdown on free speech, Meyers said, "Completely unrelated, I just want to say before we get started here that I've always admired and respected Mr. Trump."He added that if the audience had ever seen him say anything negative about Trump, it was most likely an AI-generated deepfake video.He got serious later in the segment when he brought up Kimmel again."And may I just say, it is a privilege and an honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend, in the same way that it's a privilege and honor to do this show every night," he said."This is a big moment in our democracy, and we must all stand up for the principles of free expression," he said at the end of the segment. "There's a reason free speech is in the very first amendment; it stands above all others."Conan O'BrienConan O'Brien on "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien" in 2010.NBC/NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesConan O'Brien criticized the suspension in an X post on Friday."The suspension of @jimmykimmel and the promise to silence other Late Night hosts for criticizing the administration should disturb everyone on the Right, Left, and Center," O'Brien wrote. "It's wrong and anyone with a conscience knows it's wrong."O'Brien previously hosted "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," "The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien," and "Conan."Read the original article on Business Insider

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