The women of “The View” on Monday addressed ABC’s indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show following threats from the Federal Communications Commission, blasting the Trump administration for trying to “force someone to be silenced.”
Whoopi Goldberg began the segment by saying the reason the issue wasn’t addressed last week was because their Friday show was taped and they wanted to wait to see if Kimmel addressed the matter himself. But Whoopi said the hosts, whose show airs on ABC, were live Monday and that “no one silences us.”
On Wednesday, ABC announced that it was placing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on an indefinite hold after FCC Chair Brendan Carr went after the late-night host in an interview. Carr took issue with Kimmel’s monologue two nights prior regarding Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
Carr went on to say the FCC could move to revoke licenses of ABC affiliate stations as a punishment for the remarks, and at least two broadcast companies who own ABC affiliates responded by saying they would place a hold on Kimmel’s show.
Goldberg said on Monday that the government “cannot apply pressure to force someone to be silenced.”
“It’s not up to Brendan Carr. It is not up to him,” Goldberg said. “I don’t understand how you are the man in charge of the nation, and you still don’t understand how the First Amendment works.”
Co-host Sunny Hostin, a former federal prosecutor, reiterated the purpose of the First Amendment and quoted Thomas Jefferson on the right for citizens to criticize the government. Hostin also quoted former Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendall Holmes, who said “we must protect the freedom to express the thought we hate.”
Ana Navarro accused the government of using its weight to “bully and scare people into silence.” She referred back to her time living under dictatorship in Nicaragua.
“At first, they come with the people with big platforms, at first they silence the press,” Navarro said. “But then they come for all of us, because their intent is to scare us into silence and self-censorship.”
Kimmel’s remarks last week were referencing how some Republicans responded after Kirk’s murder, saying that they were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” He also accused them of trying to score “political points” off the conservative activist’s assassination.
His comments came at a time when investigators had not released details about the suspect’s potential motives to the public. Tyler Robinson was formally charged with Kirk’s murder the next day.
In charging documents, prosecutors released text messages from Robinson saying he targeted Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred.”
Kimmel’s indefinite suspension sparked a wave of outrage, even prompting Hollywood stars to call for a boycott of Disney and ABC in protest. Tatiana Maslany, who starred in Marvel’s “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” posted to her Instagram urging people to cancel their Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN subscriptions.
Other celebrities, including NSYNC band member Lance Bass and “Transparent” star Amy Landecker, shared screenshots to social media of their Disney-affiliated subscriptions being canceled.
Howard Stern on Monday told listeners that he was canceling his own Disney subscription during his SiriusXM radio show. Stern added that it might sound “stupid,” but that he was expressing himself with his pocketbook.
“I just know when the government begins to interfere — when the government says, ‘I’m not pleased with you, so we’re gonna orchestrate a way to silence you’ — it’s the wrong direction for our country,” Stern said.
Kimmel’s friend and fellow late-night host John Oliver addressed Disney CEO Bob Iger on Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO.
Oliver told Iger that the Trump administration will come off terribly in the history books, but “history is also going to remember the cowards who definitely knew better but still let things happen.”
“If we’ve learned nothing else from this administration’s second term so far, and I don’t think we have, is that giving the bully your lunch money doesn’t make him go away,” Oliver said. “It just makes him come back hungrier each time. They are never going to stop.”
He urged Iger to draw a line and instead of rolling over to the bully, suggested that Iger say “f— you, make me.”