I mean, wouldn’t really mean much at that point…
Back in September, Jimmy Kimmel got a little bit of an unscheduled vacation when his show was briefly suspended by ABC after comments made on the assassination of conservative media personality Charlie Kirk.
During his show following the shooting, Kimmel implied without evidence that the shooter was right-wing or “MAGA.”
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
His comments not only landed Kimmel criticism online, but they also caught the attention of FCC chair Brendan Carr, who called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and said there was a “strong case” for action against ABC and parent company, Disney.
“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.
They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”
Well it didn’t take long for companies to take action. Nexstar Media Group, the largest television station owner in the country (which also happens to be seeking government approval for a merger with another broadcast company, Tegna) announced that their ABC affiliates would be pulling Kimmel from its lineup.
And Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest owner of ABC affiliates in the country, also announced that they would be pulling Kimmel’s show indefinitely from their stations. The company said at the time that they would not lift Kimmel’s suspension “until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability,” while urging the host to issue a public apology to the Kirk family and make a donation to Turning Point USA.
The consequences for Kimmel ignited a firestorm and caused plenty of debate over free speech and government censorship, but shortly after being suspended by the network, ABC returned Kimmel to the airwaves.
In a statement, the Walt Disney Company said that Kimmel’s comments were “ill-timed” and “insensitive,” but that after discussing with Kimmel, the show would be returning to air following what amounted to a four day suspension.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
But as it turns out, there were behind-the-scenes discussions going on during the suspension about whether Kimmel would have to issue an apology as a condition of returning to the airwaves.
Erika Kirk, the widow of Charlie Kirk who is a former Miss Arizona and is now the CEO of her husband’s media organization, Turning Point USA, revealed during an interview with Jesse Watters on Fox News that Sinclair reached out to her after Kimmel’s comments and asked whether she wanted an apology from him:
“They asked, do you want Jimmy to give you an apology? Do you want to be on his show? How can we make it right?
Through our team I responded. I said thank you, we received their note. This is not our issue. Not our mess. If you want to say I’m sorry to someone who’s grieving, go right ahead. But if that’s not in your heart, don’t do it. I don’t want it. I don’t need it.”
Of course all eyes where on how Kimmel would handle the situation during his monologue when he returned, and whether he would apologize for his comments on Kirk. And he stopped short of issuing an apology, instead attempting to clarify that it was never his intention to make fun of Kirk’s assassination:
“I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference. If you like me, you like me, if you don’t you don’t. I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind. But I do have to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human, and that is you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.
I don’t think there’s anything funny about it… Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both.
And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.”
Not that an apology really would have meant much anyway, because it’s pretty clear he wasn’t sorry for what he said.
