After Jimmy Kimmel Live! was abruptly pulled off the air following his comments about Charlie Kirk, which many deemed inappropriate, many talk show hosts, including John Oliver, stepped forward to discuss the implications of this move, especially on the First Amendment. CBS allegedly canceled Stephen Colbert’s show shortly before this, citing his political commentary.
John Oliver says Jimmy Kimmel is the ‘latest canary in the coal mine’
John Oliver made his feelings abundantly clear about the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel’s show. He claimed that free speech was under attack in the United States. In the latest episode of his show, Last Week Tonight, the host condemned the cancellation. He also claimed that it was “by no means the first casualty in Trump’s attacks on free speech.”
Oliver continued, “He’s just the latest canary in the coal mine,…A mine that at this point now seems more dead canary than coal (via Business Insider).” Interestingly, various other actors and comedians also criticized Kimmel’s suspension, and Oliver dedicated most of his episode to discussing it.
Oliver criticized Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr’s reaction to Kimmel’s statements directly led to the suspension.
Among the things that were singled out in Jimmy Kimmel’s show, the host notably said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.” This was the primary thing that led to action against his show.
Before Oliver, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, and Jon Stewart had already spoken out about Kimmel’s suspension. But Oliver’s segment was more detailed and more critical compared to what the other hosts said. Although Colbert and Meyers also spoke in detail about how this suspension was an assault on freedom of speech.
The future of Jimmy Kimmel Live! still hangs in jeopardy.
