Donald Trump’s attacks on host Jimmy Kimmel reached a new milestone on Tuesday April 28. The US telecoms regulator ordered ABC, which broadcasts Mr Kimmel’s show, to submit a new license application. The democratic opposition denounced an act of censorship.
Melania and Donald Trump have called for the comedian’s departure following a joke they consider a call to violence. The regulator, the FCC, does not justify its decision in the administrative opinion. Requested by Agence France-Presse (AFP), she did not respond immediately.
Contacted by AFP, Disney, ABC’s parent company, confirmed having received the request from the FCC and said it was “confident in the fact that our service records [démontraient] that we have the qualifications for these licenses.” These were initially due to expire between 2028 and 2031 as part of the ordinary process resulting in a renewal request.
After the intrusion of a shooter, since charged with attempted assassination of the president, during the press gala in Washington on Saturday, the first lady, Melania Trump, called for the ouster of Jimmy Kimmel, whose “rhetoric of hatred and violence” she denounced. She was referring to a joke from the host of the late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” » during the program broadcast on Thursday.
During a sequence parodying the White House Correspondents’ Gala, which was held two days later in Washington, Jimmy Kimmel pretended to address Melania Trump, “beaming like a widow in the making”, as he put it.
After Melania Trump, it was her husband who attacked Jimmy Kimmel on Monday, saying that he “should be fired immediately by Disney and ABC” for this “despicable call to violence”.
During his show broadcast later Monday, Jimmy Kimmel did not apologize and explained that this “very nice little joke” was an allusion to the age difference between the presidential spouses and to the often severe appearance of the first lady, but not a call to violence.
An “abuse of power”
In mid-September, ABC temporarily removed Jimmy Kimmel’s show from the air for comments deemed inappropriate by the host following the assassination of ultraconservative influencer Charlie Kirk. This suspension was notably suggested publicly by the president of the FCC, Brendan Carr.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Donald Trump against the media: the written press resists, but the ABC channel suspends host Jimmy Kimmel
Appointed by Donald Trump, the manager threatened, in March, to deprive certain channels of license which he accused of “distorting” information and “promoting false theories”. To avoid this outcome, he called on them to “correct the situation”, believing that “the general public [avait] lost confidence in traditional media.
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“Remember when they were campaigning for free speech? », Reacted, on X, the elected Democrat in the House of Representatives Greg Landsman, in reference to the Republicans. “Using the FCC to attack political adversaries is an abuse of power and [un acte] incredibly childish,” he continued.
“We cannot tolerate these attacks on the press, the entertainment media or those who express their opinion,” urged his colleague in the House, April McClain Delaney, calling on elected officials to “protest.” »
Stephen Colbert’s ‘Late Show’ removed
In July, the Skydance Media group agreed, at the request of the FCC, to make editorial changes within the CBS channel, often criticized by Donald Trump, to obtain the green light for the acquisition of Paramount Global.
A few days earlier, CBS had announced the removal of a show competing with Jimmy Kimmel’s, Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show”. The latter had just described as a “good big bribe” the compensation of 16 million dollars paid by Paramount Global, parent company of CBS, to settle proceedings brought by Donald Trump.
In December 2024, ABC had already agreed to settle another dispute also initiated by the Republican billionaire, by paying $15 million.
Brendan Carr “is using his power to silence divergent opinions, on orders from the president,” commented the co-director of the media freedom organization Free Press, Jessica Gonzalez, in a statement.
Also read the editorial of “Le Monde” | “Free speech” under siege in the United States
Originally published at Almouwatin.com
