Legendary late-night host David Letterman has strongly condemned ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s talk show. He described the move, which followed pressure from the Trump administration, as “a misery” and “ridiculous” during a Thursday panel discussion.
During an appearance at The Atlantic Festival in Lower Manhattan, Letterman told The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, that the implications were clear: “We all see where this is going, correct? It’s managed media.”
“You can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian, a criminal administration in the Oval Office,” Letterman asserted. “That’s just not how this works.”
With a touch of his characteristic humor, Letterman quipped that he had been “smart enough to cancel myself.”
ABC had previously announced the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night program. This decision came after Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr publicly criticized Kimmel’s on-air comments regarding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Carr had even hinted at potential F.C.C. action against ABC affiliates, stating, “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the F.C.C. ahead.”
Carr’s remarks aligned with a rising conservative outcry, accusing Kimmel of distorting the political leanings of Kirk’s assassin, Tyler Robinson. On his show, Kimmel had claimed that Trump’s supporters were “desperately trying” to portray Robinson “as anything other than one of them,” despite Utah officials indicating Robinson had recently gravitated toward more left-leaning ideologies.
The show’s indefinite suspension quickly ignited outrage among liberals, who accused the network of censorship and of succumbing to political pressure from the Trump administration.
Letterman, adding his voice to the chorus of critics on Thursday, recalled his own career spent lampooning numerous presidents, emphasizing that “not once were we squeezed by anyone from any governmental agency.”
“Everyone sort of understood, in the name of humor,” he explained, “why not?”
He continued, expressing his belief that “the institution of the President of the United States ought to be bigger than a guy doing a talk show, you know? It just — you really ought to be bigger.”
These comments underscored a powerful message of solidarity from one late-night legend, David Letterman, to another, Jimmy Kimmel.
This show of unity is not new among late-night hosts. Recently, after CBS announced the cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” hosts rallied in support. Notably, leading up to the Emmy Awards, Jimmy Kimmel even placed a billboard in Los Angeles campaigning with “I’m voting for Stephen” for Best Talk Show, an award Colbert ultimately won.
In a rare move, Jon Stewart, typically a Monday night host for “The Daily Show,” is slated to appear on a Thursday episode, Comedy Central confirmed. He will host Maria Ressa, author of “How to Stand Up to a Dictator.”
Meanwhile, NBC’s Jimmy Fallon unexpectedly withdrew from a scheduled New York conference appearance on Thursday. While spokeswomen for both the conference and NBC did not comment, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” website still listed actor Jude Law and journalist Tom Llamas as Thursday’s guests.
A Paramount representative confirmed that Stephen Colbert’s Thursday guests would include journalists Jake Tapper and David Remnick.