In Defense of Jimmy Kimmel’s Stupid Words

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0:45Today's top trending headlines at Newsweek.com. Links are in the descriptions depending on where you're listening or watching. We're actually going to back off on the YouTube videos for just a few more days, possibly weeks, because there is so much more involved in video production and there is a basic podcast. With that said, here's today's top trending headlines at Newsweek.com, ABC, Next Star, and the FCC. What's behind Jimmy Kimmel being canceled? Let's talk about Jimmy Kimmel for just a second and play the video that we've all seen ad nauseum at this point. We're going to do it anyway just to set the stage.

1:14Check it out. The MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them. Yeah, yeah. What Kimmel said about Charlie Kirk's assassin being one of them means that one of them is a conservative, Which was not only a stupid and careless statement, but it's also highly inaccurate and incredibly offensive to at least half the country and myself included. I mean, the dumb kid was accusing Charlie Kirk of hate speech. Not that it matters. Because it doesn't. The shooter's politics are as relevant as Charlie Kirk's politics. They're not. Yes, the shooter was clearly comfortable with guns.

1:48He was also in a relationship with a trans person in the middle of transitioning. But again, none of those facts are relevant because like it or not, the shooter represents all of us in the sense that he doesn't quite fit neatly into the one size fits all two party system that we are relegated to. It's entirely possible that the shooter, like many regular folks, has ideas that contradict the doctrine of the political parties we ascribe to. None of that is relevant to the situation at hand and you just come off as a total pleb simp if you're going to blame the left or blame the right for Charlie Kirk's assassination.

2:21total surface level mentality. If you're one of these knee-jerk water cooler types who think it's appropriate, intellectual, or accurate to pin the blame of the actions of this lone wolf nut job on an entire political movement. You're just phoning it in and you don't see the complex dynamics for what they really are. And you should probably just butt out of the conversation and stick to easy topics like celebrity interviews. And I mean, that goes for Jimmy Kimmel well as just as much as it goes for anybody who flaps their gums for a living, present company included. And the bottom line is that Jimmy Kimmel knows better, and he should apologize, but I don't think they should axe the show over this.

2:57And while that is ABC's decision to make entirely, here's what it looked like to us outsiders. First, Kimmel drops this intellectual deuce about the shooter being a conservative right-wing MAGA guy, which isn't even remotely true. Then the FCC chair, Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, jumped in publicly warning local ABC affiliates that they could face investigations and even license trouble if they kept airing Jimmy Kimmel live. A lot of those stations are genuine mom and pop stations held together with shoestring budgets and minimum wage employees just trying to get by. And Brendan Carr here basically just put those tiny vulnerable outlets in the crosshairs.

3:35So let's take a listen to Trump's FCC chair, Brendan Carr. Yeah, let's go, Brendan. What people don't understand is that the broadcasters, and you've gotten this right, are entirely different than people that use other forms of communication. They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. And we can get into some ways that we've been trying to reinvigorate the public interest and some changes that we've seen. But frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Those sounded like pretty clear threats to me, and apparently they sounded like pretty clear threats to Nexstar.

4:10the biggest ABC affiliate owner who apparently caught this signal and yanked the show. Within hours, ABC Disney caved and announced indefinite preemption. And this is where things get dark and where we should be worried because this crossed the line from free speech into coercion from the FCC on behalf of Donald Trump. And make no mistake, the U.S. government, at the direction of our giant man-baby of a moron president, has been openly demanding this for years now. It's not a far leap to believe he called this shot personally, even though I've got no evidence. I'll stand by the statement, and that's not free speech.

4:44That's Trump officially crossing the line into dictatorship. It's unfortunate that ABC and its affiliates don't show more backbone, but Trump's FCC just went after the local station owners threatening to pull their licenses. I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way. They don't have any amount of legal firepower to fight back whatsoever, and it's not even remotely a fair fight. This is a third world country shakedown, all because someone who says stupid shit for a living said something stupid. Saving money on your next project now at Menards. Menards is the leading supplier of quality roof and floor trusses.

5:21Choose from our large selection of residential and post-frame trusses or design custom trusses specifically for your project. Get started on your building project today, in-store, or on Menards.com. Plus, view our weekly flyer for all the great deals happening now. Save big money at Menards. Look, I get it. Free speech is a big liability in such a disgustingly litigious society. Don't say anything offensive or the left might cancel you and now the right might cancel you too. I mean, that is unless you're Brian Kilmeade over at Fox News suggesting that homeless people be euthanized. What? Yeah, he said it.

6:00Take a listen. Involuntary lethal injection. or something. Just kill him. Wow. Oh, but don't worry. Kilmeade quickly apologized, so it's all good now. I apologize for that extremely callous remark. Brian Kilmeade should and might even still lose his job over this one. If Kimmel is going down for saying that Charlie Kirk's shooter was a conservative, then Kilmeade should definitely go down for suggesting that we murder homeless people, right? Or can we just realize, like adults, that people who talk all day for a living are bound to say stupid things on occasion and nobody's perfect. All you've got to do is own the moment, apologize, move on, and don't do it again, or then we might have to fire you after you've shown a clear pattern of this kind of behavior, which is probably how it should work, right?

6:42That's how adults do things. Speaking of clear patterns of stupidity, I'm sure you've also heard by now that Trump has also sued the New York Times for$15 billion for daring to question any of his ridiculous propaganda. Trust me, I'm like a smart person. I mean, not to mention what he did to CBS originally demanding$10 billion, then jacking it up to$20 billion? All just to take a relative pittance of a settlement at$16 million? This isn't about the money. It's about using the full force of the executive branch and Trump's personal lawyers as a battering ram to destroy any institution that it wants at will.

7:18I mean, just look at what the idiot is doing to the Kennedy Center for crying out loud. I went to the best schools. I'm like a very smart person. What does any of this have to do with the price of groceries, you fraud? You know, I'm like a smart person. And what does any of this have to do with the skyrocketing cost of living, you schmuck? I'm speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain and I've said a lot of things. Why do you constantly put your own personal vendettas front and center before actually helping the American people who put you back in the White House to do exactly that?

7:50I'm a very smart guy. I went to the best college. I had good marks. I was a very smart guy, good student, all that stuff, okay? To the conservatives who might be listening to my voice, hear me now. Just you wait until this pendulum inevitably swings back in your direction again with some left-wing lunatic in the White House who gets rid of Fox News and Newsmax and the Sinclair franchise. All under the guise of, I don't know, bringing back the Fairness Doctrine. Oh, the humanity. They've come very close to doing that before. And now Trump is simply laying the groundwork and precedent for them to do it when they're in charge.

8:22I don't know, this all seems like it's leading to a dystopian nightmare scenario quickly, where late-night comedians are banned because people aren't allowed to poke fun at the president anymore, regardless of who's in office. Otherwise, Trump's FCC will go after your affiliates who can't fight back. I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Trump does it to soothe his butthurt ego, and the Democrats do it because they saw what he could get away with. And then there was no more comedians on network television. Now, I'm not really even sure why the networks bother with TV broadcast anymore, I can't remember the last time I stayed up to watch Kimmel, but I do catch the opening monologues on YouTube a few times a week, which is usually pretty funny.

9:00But I watch it when I'm ready, not when the show airs on Grandpa TV. Everything is on demand now, and the only people watching traditional appointment television programming are people in nursing homes. I think there's a big misconception out there that people have about their local TV station as being some sort of glamorous, high-paying, and rewarding gig. That might be true for some, especially for those who are established in the big cities, but for the most part, your average TV station has been reduced down to a fast food equivalent of the news, and that's even if it's originating from a local staff at all.

9:31Because a lot of them are just zombie stations with a skeleton crew who pick up programming from the largest regional affiliates, so they don't have to pay for any original programming. It's a sad state of affairs and absolutely evil that Trump's FCC would go after them instead of going after ABC directly. At least they can afford to defend themselves in court and get a$20 billion lawsuit reduced down to$16 million. Like Trump settled with CBS over, and Trump calls that a win. Pennies on the dollar, that's like owing somebody$20 ,000 and walking away after paying$16. This was an absolute failure, which is why Trump's FCC, and I'm assuming under his direct order, that Let's Go Brendan Carr decided to go after ABC's mom-and-pop affiliates because they're incapable of defending themselves.

10:16Pure speculation, of course, though. Don't listen to a word I have to say. Now Trump says he wants NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, but don't worry, they're not funny. Nobody cares about that. I'm joking. I'm joking. Sorry, I forgot the jokes aren't allowed anymore in our everybody's butt hurt all the time culture. Now, Jimmy and Seth are both good guys, and they don't deserve to be caught up in any of this. Nobody should be fired just because they don't like Donald Trump. Look, I think the internet has absolutely destroyed our collective minds. It's only taken 30 years to reach this point.

10:4520 with social media, but we've become so enamored with and captivated by our own opinions because of it that we're all basically social justice warriors now, running around from room to room with main character syndrome and a pair of scissors just waiting to cut anyone who dares offend us from thinking differently out of our lives completely and forever. While it's a sad state of affairs, not all hope is lost and Jimmy Kimmel isn't going anywhere. If I were his agent, I would recommend that he apologize for his stupid comment with some sincerity. Keep it short and sweet and see what happens. It's the professional thing to do, and I know Jimmy Kimmel at least has a touch of class and will do the right thing eventually, hopefully.

11:23And maybe it's time to move on from late nights on a dying platform anyway and to meet your audience where they're at on YouTube. We are going to lose a lot, however, when this change inevitably happens because these big network shows have big, beautiful budgets that allow for world-class sets, Studio audiences and an army of joke writers at your disposal, a world-class live band and support staff. It's about as prestigious and swanky as it gets for an on-screen entertainer. I get it, but is it worth it? Is it worth it for guys like Kimmel to stick around network programmers if they're willing to pull the plug like that every time a host hits the guardrails?

11:59I don't know, but I'm sure guys like Kimmel, Fallon, and Myers are asking themselves those difficult questions right now. They should team up and leave the networks behind and raise some cash, go online, build out some new shows, hire a marketing team and set a promotional budget and print the cash without fear of network interference for the rest of your lives. Well, that's not quite how it works either, because this is probably a good time to mention that you just can't say anything on YouTube that you want to either. And you're likely to be subjected to and contend with their vast censorship algorithms, which can be even more tricky than a finicky network boss since it's all done with automation, Which is probably how the most powerful people in the world would like to have it, wouldn't they?

12:37You know, a system that no matter what you publish is automatically flagged and demonetized if it offends anyone on the list for any myriad of meaningless and arbitrary reasons? Talk about a brave new world. In theory, not only could the President of the United States get you demonetized, he could get your content revenue stream put into his bank accounts if his office doesn't approve your criticism. It should be clear to most free-thinking people that I don't actually believe that's what's going on here, but I must admit that it's difficult for my mind not to wander in that direction based on everything we've seen in the news over the last 72 hours alone.

13:10And I know that I'm not alone in thinking these things. Thinking out loud should not be seen as a liability, though. Thinking out loud is precisely what free speech is, and if we don't protect people we disagree with in their right to express thoughts freely, then we don't really believe in free speech, do we? What Jimmy Kimmel said was stupid, and he should apologize yesterday. day. That's where things should end, but it looks like it's just getting started, unfortunately. And it looks like we're out of time. So until we can do it again, it's Newsweek Radio. I'm Jesse Edwards. Catch you next time.

13:38Bye. And we say bye bye. Newsweek Radio is a member of the Trust Project. I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. The easy way.