Well, it appears that our (not so) long national nightmare is over. After almost a full week of intense backlash on social media, the ABC Network announced that, after a handful of days being placed in “timeout," Jimmy Kimmel has apparently reflected on his actions and returns tonight to his role as host of a late-night talk show.
The move by the network has created a firestorm online, as many were outraged over the decision, and there was no shortage of hyperbolic accusations that this country has devolved into an authoritarian regime with a thin-skinned tin-pot ruler eradicating a critical voice. The reactions have been funnier than anything heard in a Kimmel monologue.
READ: The House of Mouse Failed Everyone With Their Flip-Flopping Response to Jimmy Kimmel's Toxicity
Looking over the past week, numerous questions abound. Let’s start here, with the flood of support that has welled up for Kimmel after ABC declared he was being benched for the time being. We have seen not just collective outrage online; there have been demonstrations, calls to boycott Disney, cancel its streaming service, and contact advertisers of the stations.
🚨 HAPPENING NOW: Hundreds of Jimmy Kimmel supporters marching outside ABC headquarters in NYC chanting "Bring back Jimmy" and "Censorship has got to go" pic.twitter.com/jDxHcnsIId
— Ron Smith (@Ronxyz00) September 19, 2025
So what happens now, as the claim goes out that the economic leverage applied to Disney led to this result? If you canceled your Disney+ plan, it runs out by the end of the month, so now you just make a few keystrokes and reinstall your account. That’s hardly the romanticized effort made by an activist. Hopefully, those who TRULY made a sacrifice to stick it to the House of Mouse can rebook their trips on Disney Cruise Lines!
All of this posturing leads to an immediate question: How is it that there is this much support for a show these same people did not support by, you know, actually watching it? Kimmel’s ratings have been anemic and were continuing to erode. He lost nearly 50 percent of his viewers, almost a million in total, just since President Trump took office. If all of these geriatric protesters want to really help out Jimmy, there is a novel solution: Why don’t you try tuning in?
We know the reaction has had little to do with Kimmel and everything to do with Trump, leading to the next issue. Another dose of laughter is seen with all of the authoritarian accusations made that Trump forced a critic off the airwaves. First off, if that was a true motivator, why is it has he taken no prior action with Kimmel? The host has been roasting Trump on the regular since he entered politics ten years ago. But this points to the other punchline in all this furor.
The screeching over Trump being an oppressive leader, silencing his critics in a dictatorial fashion, is completely blasted into confetti today. You are hardly dealing with a totalitarian police state if a network can just shrug its metaphorical shoulders and arbitrarily reinstall a supposedly censored voice. You are dealing with the most neutered of “dictators” if he is countered with the message of, “Meh, whatever…”.
There is the promise that tonight’s return of Kimmel, the king of the compelled laugh-applause reactions, will see a swelled viewing audience. But while this is sure to happen, the real tell will be where he rests in the ratings in, say, a month from now, when all of this mirror-posturing opposition dissipates. Look no further for proof than over at Kimmel’s competition.
It was in July when the announcement came that Stephen Colbert had been canceled by CBS. That was not a case of the host being muzzled; the network was pulling the plug entirely on “The Late Show.” Many people lacking empirical wisdom declared that this too was an effort by Trump to remove a critical voice. The claim was that it had something to do with the settlement CBS reached in its lawsuit with Trump.
There was zero connection to the cancellation and the lawsuit involving the “60 Minutes” editing of its Kamala Harris interview; Colbert had no involvement with that case. In fact, it was learned that the network had decided to yank the plug on Colbert’s costly show before the settlement was reached. That reality has done little to end the speculation that “Trump canceled Colbert.” But what is the result of this outrage?
Colbert announced the cancellation in mid-July, and the cries over censorship have fallen on deaf ears – and have not delivered eyes. Somehow, the “censored” host is still on the air (the reality: His show will not be renewed after May 2026), and he is still delivering F-bombs and flipping the middle finger to the camera. That has not ended the claims of his censorship and the silencing of a critic. Profanity alert:
This is amusing idiocy as the supposedly "canceled" Stephen Colbert is commenting on the supposedly "canceled" Jimmy Kimmel with a magazine that is somehow free to publish claims of censorship.
— Brad Slager: CNN+ Lifetime Subscriber (@MartiniShark) September 23, 2025
I'm rather confused how I keep hearing from all of these "silenced" sources... pic.twitter.com/N7GTqVBxNN
Kimmel will likely end up in the same position as Colbert, once the hysterics tamp down. Just look at the numbers. After a bit of a bump in the ratings after the ensuing outrage, Colbert’s numbers have returned to their average, and he is sliding in the ratings once again. In fact, Jimmy Fallon was the only one to see a rise in the numbers last month, and Fox News' Greg Gutfeld still dominates all of them.
Finally, we have the indolent minds in Washington. There is a push now emerging from the Democrats in Congress to look into the matter of the companies that own hundreds of local affiliates and their involvement in the Kimmel decision. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) is calling for an investigation by his oversight committee to find out details of Nextstar and Sinclair, declaring they would not run Kimmel’s broadcast.
To explain: The very people who are enraged that the government allegedly stepped in to involve itself with broadcasters’ activity will now be using their government powers to involve themselves in broadcasters’ activity. It is always amazing when those who are most self-involved do not have the power to look in the mirror.
We are launching an investigation into ABC, Sinclair, and the FCC. @OversightDems will defend the First Amendment. pic.twitter.com/SvNv7hKYWp
— Congressman Robert Garcia (@RepRobertGarcia) September 22, 2025
Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.
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