Yesterday, at the behest of President Trump and the head of the Federal Communications Commission, ABC indefinitely suspended late night host Jimmy Kimmel.

Two days before, Kimmel had made a comment on air that implied the murderer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk was a MAGA follower (which appears not to be true). This upset the president, who considered Kirk a close friend, as well as many of Kirk’s grieving admirers.

To be clear: I don’t find Kimmel to be particularly funny and I’ve very rarely watched his show. However, after watching the clip in question multiple times, I see it to be at worst in poor taste, but not nearly as egregious as some are claiming.

There are several issues at play here. First, the FCC chairman actually threatened ABC to either remove Kimmel or else. That sounds like coercion. One of ABC’s largest licensees has a merger agreement before the FCC. Supposedly, they pushed the network to can Kimmel so as not to endanger the government approval needed.

Second, inaccurate or offensive comments have been made by television personalities of all stripes in the not-too-distant past. If Kimmel deserves to be fired, are we going to go after all of these other offenders as well?

Third, do we really want to have a political climate where anyone who disagrees with the leader in charge can be silenced? This is a slippery slope. Several media companies have already settled lawsuits with the government that legal experts thought were quite winnable—because they don’t want to be in an adversarial position with the administration. Who will be next in the crosshairs?

Charlie Kirk’s assassination was a horrible thing. His killer should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But using any tragedy to go after people who disagree with your political views is no laughing matter.

Let us help your business rise to the top.

linda@popky.com
(650) 281-4854
www.leverage2market.com