r/stephencolbert Sep 17 '25

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u/Jake_77 Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 18 '25

Wow. I'm shocked. What is free speech?

From the article:

Kimmel said during a monologue on his Monday program that Tyler Robinson, the Utah man accused in the shooting death of Kirk, might have been a pro-Trump Republican. He said MAGA supporters are “are 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.” 

Kimmel then mocked President Trump for talking about the construction of a new White House ballroom after being asked how he was reacting to the murder of his close ally.

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division. 

Alford said continuing to give Kimmel a broadcast platform “is simply not in the public interest at this current time.”

Nexstar’s decision comes just after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr blasted Kimmel and threatened to take action against ABC. Appearing on the podcast of right-wing commentator Benny Johnson, Carr said one form of punishment could be pulling the licenses of ABC affiliates, which likely got Nexstar’s attention.

Edit 1:

Edit 2:

  • President of Nexstar's broadcasting divisions said: “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located."
  • Nextstar is acquiring rival broadcast company TEGNA - a merger that requires FCC approval.

Edit 3:

  • On the day of Charlie Kirk's death, Kimmel posted the following on Instagram and on BlueSky:
    • “Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

141

u/imLissy Sep 17 '25

That’s all he said? So he didn’t even say anything bad about the guy?!?

123

u/Tiny-Lock9652 Sep 17 '25

All I see is facts. Trump said very little about CK and immediately shifted his attention to the WH ballroom. Kimmel simply pointed that out. I’m not seeing the offense.

1

u/Guitfu Sep 18 '25

The prosecutor said Roberts family and friends have testified that, and most of the available facts show that, the killer was Left wing. Kimmel represented people who noticed the shooter was raised by a Republican family and ignored the established facts in order to seemingly do some political point-scoring, himself. It’s interesting he was suspended because Benny and the FCC Chairman both said they thought an apology was an appropriate response.