Kimmel, Free Speech & Hatred

September 30, 2025

The One of the big stories in the news the last couple of weeks surrounds inaccurate comments Jimmy Kimmel made regarding conservative’s responses to the murder of Charlie Kirk. Jimmie Kimmel is considered a comedian but in recent years he has worked to become more of a funny political commentator. He is ultra-liberal, and I never found him to be funny. He made some inaccurate comments about conservatives which he has a right to do and reportedly, does frequently. Some of the independent companies who are ABC affiliates decided it was time to remove Kimmel’s show from their programming. This was also their right. Liberals are yelling and screaming this is stifling free speech. Now they’re using the term fascist for those responsible for Kimmel being taken off the air. Were the inflammatory comments about Kirk and conservatives why Kimmel was removed or was it the sliding downturn in ratings of his show. 

Kimmel has lost 43% of his viewers in the first 8 months of 2025. This may have been the excuse the independent affiliates needed to change their programming. If Kimmel's audience was over 3 million a night, he would not have been removed regardless of what he said but with barely 1.2 million viewers, down from 2 million viewers, this was a good excuse to run reruns of Celebrity Family Feud. 

People have the right to say what they want. We all must realize there are also sometimes consequences for remarks that some may find offensive. It is a reality of what happens in highly emotional situations and people like Kimmel have very few filters in what they want to say. I think the networks found an excuse to make a change, but they did not have the guts to admit his falling ratings were hurting affiliates. People find honesty hard to express. It shows lack of integrity. 

The murder of Charlie Kirk and the subsequent firing of Jimmie Kimmel have caused all the hatred to flame up to the top. Kirk did not deserve to be murdered because others disagreed with him. Kimmel did not deserve to be fired simply because of what he said about Trump followers. Our polarized society has now become a very dangerous society. There are too many people who now believe murder is justified if another person doesn’t agree with your choices or opinions in life. We have officially entered a new age of hatred.  

Update: Kimmel has been restored to his late-night program and the companies that pre-empted him have restored his program. One can only imagine all of the conversations that ensued between ABC and affiliates in order for the affiliates to discontinue the pre-emption. The fact remains, Kimmel can say whatever he wants regardless of how incorrect it might be. There is a philosophy that exists that says if one says something long enough and loud enough, people will begin to believe it even if it is wrong. That is what Kimmel relies on. I also have the right to continue to not watch someone who is mean spirited and incorrect in much of what they say.