commentary
In the tradition of late-night confronting cultural flashpoints, ABC’s host is the free speech champion we need
Published
September 26, 2025 10:30AM (EDT)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (Disney/Randy Holmes)
Comedians will be the first to tell you that you shouldn’t take them seriously. Jon Stewart, the Walter Cronkite of Comedy Central’s fake newsroom, says so every time “The Daily Show” is hailed for its perceived trustworthiness in the news and information space. John Oliver expresses similar sentiments whenever someone praises the sound journalism employed in “Last Week Tonight.”
Even Joe Rogan occasionally reminds the public that he is, in his words, “a f**king moron.” Usually, that happens when his audience takes to heart his opinions on, say, the necessity of the COVID vaccine or the wisdom of voting for an autocrat.
Jimmy Kimmel, however, would like you to take him seriously right now. That hasn’t always been the case. Topical humor may be the bread and butter of his “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” monologues, but he’s less of a Shakespearean jester speaking damning truths from behind a buffoon’s mask than a circus clown tagging Donald Trump and his cadre of obsequious dolts with cream pies on the daily.
It was important for Kimmel to affirm his humanity before the millions of viewers who may not have watched him in years, if ever. But he also knew that casting his suspension as a glaring threat to free speech was even more vital.
Thanks to Disney abruptly suspending Kimmel’s show on Sept. 17, he’s shaping up to be the most famous First Amendment defender this moment requires. Kimmel may not agree with that declaration, mind you. But in his first monologue back following the show’s six-day suspension, he at least proved he understands what needs to be said at this crucial, precarious moment in history.
From the moment he took the stage to when he left, Kimmel expressed his ideas with the utmost clarity and intention. That includes his choice to open the show with, “As I was saying before I was interrupted . . .” an ode to “Tonight Show” host Jack Paar. LateNighter recalls that Paar once walked out mid-show in response to NBC censors cutting one of his jokes; he marked his return with the words Kimmel went on to repeat 65 years later.
He soon followed that by reiterating, while fighting back tears, that he never meant to “make light of the murder of a young man,” referring to Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down on Sept. 10. Neither did he mean to imply the accused assassin was affiliated with MAGA, he added. “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.”
Kimmel clarified himself without apologizing, which is worth noting because that implicitly acknowledges he has nothing for which to be sorry.