US TV hosts back Kimmel as Trump threatens TV networks

America’s late-night TV hosts have rallied behind fellow comedian Jimmy Kimmel after he was suspended by ABC in a row over comments he made about the killing of Charlie Kirk.

Stephen Colbert began his show by saying “we are all Jimmy Kimmel”, and said the star’s removal was a “blatant assault on freedom of speech”.

Seth Meyers declared it was “a privilege and honour to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend”, while Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon tackled the free speech issue by doing satirical sketches in which they were apparently forced to praise Donald Trump.

Their broadcasts came shortly after the US president said the main networks were overwhelmingly negative about him and could have their licences “taken away”.

For years, Trump has focused on those in the media who he views as his opponents.

Is Kimmel’s suspension an attack on free speech? A sign of another media company bowing to Trump’s assault? Or a long overdue reckoning? It depends on whose side you are on.

This latest decision has sent a chill through liberal America – and encouraged the president’s supporters who have long railed against the late-night talk show hosts who criticise him.

The row started after Kimmel said in his monologue on Monday that the “Maga gang” were “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and trying to “score political points from it”.

He also likened Trump’s reaction to the conservative political activist’s death to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish”.

Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates network TV, called those comments “sick”. Carr said he had threatened to take action because the host had appeared to “directly mislead the American public”.

Conservative critics say Kimmel was pushing a false narrative by suggesting Kirk’s suspected killer was a “Make America Great Again” Republican. While the exact motive is still not known, on Sunday – before Kimmel spoke – the Utah governor had said the suspect was “indoctrinated by leftist ideology”.

Meyers, the host of NBC’s Late Night, began his show on Thursday by saying Trump’s administration was “pursuing a crackdown on free speech”, before adding sarcastically: “And completely unrelated, I just want to say before we get started here that I’ve always admired and respected Mr Trump.”

To audience laughter, Meyers continued: “I’ve always believed he was a visionary, an innovator, a great president and an even better golfer.”

The host went on to play a succession of clips of Trump declaring he had banned government censorship and brought back free speech in America.

After playing further clips about the Kimmel situation, Meyers said: “It is a privilege and honour to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend, in the same way it’s a privilege and honour to do this show every night.

“I wake up every day and I count my blessings to live in a country that at least purports to value freedom of speech.

“And we’re going to keep doing our show the way we’ve always done it – with enthusiasm and integrity…” That was followed by a fart noise, referring to a previous joke about a horse defecating in front of Trump during his state visit to the UK.

Returning to his point, Meyers continued: “This is a pivotal… this is a big moment in our democracy and we must all stand up for freedom of expression.

“There is a reason free speech is in the very First Amendment. It stands above all others.”

On CBS, The Late Show presenter Colbert said: “To Jimmy, I say I stand with you and your staff 100%.”

He said Kimmel’s suspension was “blatant censorship” and the “latest and boldest action in a long campaign against media critics”.

Colbert has had his own show cancelled – it will end in May, so he’s got free rein for months to say almost what he wants.

CBS said in July that cancelling The Late Show was “purely a financial decision”, but some observers have linked the move to a looming federal decision on a merger involving CBS’s parent company, Paramount.

Kimmel’s removal came after Nexstar Media, one of America’s largest TV station owners, said it would not air Kimmel’s show “for the foreseeable future” because his remarks had been “offensive and insensitive”. Nexstar is also currently awaiting federal approval for a separate takeover deal.

“So a company apparently capitulating to the whims of the president in order to ensure their merger goes through – has that ever happened before?” Colbert joked.

“Everything is about corporate relationships.”

Following his state visit, Trump told reporters of late night shows and networks: “All they do is hit Trump… They are licensed. They are not allowed to do that.”

Colbert responded: “Yes they are! Since the beginning… these shows have always talked about the current president, and that happens to be you.”

He added: “So no matter what they claim, this is not entirely about what Jimmy said on Monday, this was part of a plan. How do I know that? Two months ago, when the president was tastefully celebrating my cancellation, he posted ‘Jimmy Kimmel is next to go’.”

And that’s exactly what happened.

On NBC’s The Tonight Show, Fallon told viewers: “I don’t know what’s going on and no-one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel and he’s a decent, funny and loving guy and I hope he comes back.”

He continued: “A lot of people are worried that we won’t keep saying what we want to say or that we’ll be censored. But I’m going to cover the president’s trip to the UK just like I normally would.

“Here we go. Well guys, President Trump just wrapped up his three-day trip to the UK and he…”

A voiceover then cut in to dub Fallon with the words: “…looked incredibly handsome.”

On Comedy Central, Stewart took a similar satirical approach, becoming a fawning and “patriotically obediant host” of an “all-new government approved Daily Show”.

He reluctantly lavished praise on the “perfectly-tinted Trump”, known for his “charm, elegance and an undeniable sexual charisma”.

Stewart later asked the show’s seven correspondents if the “naysayers and critics” were right. “Is Donald Trump stifling free speech?”

“Of course not Jon,” they replied in unison in robotic voices. “Americans are free to express any opinion we want. To suggest otherwise is laughable. Ha ha ha.”

Meanwhile, Former long-serving late-night host David Letterman spoke about Kimmel’s suspension at The Atlantic Festival in New York on Thursday.

“I feel bad about this, because we all see where this is going, correct?” he said. “It’s managed media. It’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous.”

In polarised America, the reaction to Kimmel’s suspension depends on your political affiliations, and not all late-night hosts are in agreement.

On conservative-leaning Fox News, Greg Gutfeld said: “People come up to me and go, ‘If you’re a comedian and you’re on TV, you should be upset by this’. I’m not really.”

His panel of guests criticised Kimmel’s comments and argued there were limits to free speech on network TV.

The host also said people who are now defending Kimmel had previously tried to silence right-wing outlets and commentators. “The only way they were going to stop that is if they know it can happen to them,” Gutfeld said. “But is that actually fair thinking? I don’t know.”

Elsewhere, former CNN presenter Piers Morgan said Kimmel had caused “understandable outrage all over America”, adding: “Why is he being heralded as some kind of free speech martyr?”