Jimmy Kimmel is expected to return to his late-night show on Tuesday after a week-long suspension. But the fallout from his absence has sparked a fiery debate over censorship, free speech, and the government’s role in regulating what Americans see on television.
On Monday’s episode of “The View,” co-hosts broke their silence about ABC’s decision to pull Kimmel from the air following pressure from the Trump administration.
“Did y’all really think we weren’t going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel? Have you watched the show over the last 29 seasons?” Whoopi Goldberg said at the top of the broadcast. “No one silences us.”
Goldberg explained that the panel intentionally held off on addressing Kimmel’s suspension during last week’s shows, waiting to see if the comedian would speak publicly first. While the women stopped short of criticizing their own network or its parent company, Disney, they made clear their outrage at what they described as government overreach.
Disney benched Kimmel after Brendan Carr, the Trump-aligned Federal Communications Commission chairman, threatened to revoke ABC affiliate licenses over Kimmel’s remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.
“You can not like a show, and it can go off the air. Someone can say something they shouldn’t and get taken off the air,” Goldberg said. “But the government cannot apply pressure to force someone to be silenced.”
Goldberg doubled down, saying: “Both sides and the middle of the aisle are saying, you don’t do this.This is not how we work.”
Sunny Hostin reminded viewers that the First Amendment was written specifically to protect citizens’ right to criticize the government. Ana Navarro, pointing to her upbringing under Nicaragua’s authoritarian regime, stressed the danger of political interference in the press.
“This is what dictators and authoritarians do; it does not matter the ideology,” Navarro said.
Even Alyssa Farah Griffin, who once served in the Trump administration, voiced concern, saying: “The First Amendment is the first for a reason, because you need to be able to hold those in power accountable.”
Kimmel himself has yet to comment publicly, but the controversy surrounding his suspension has only grown. In late July, FCC chair Carr told Fox News that “The View” was already “in the crosshairs of this administration” over Joy Behar’s criticisms of Trump. Days after Kimmel’s removal, Carr suggested on CNN that “The View” might also be a target.
The panel didn’t directly address those comments on Monday, but Goldberg closed with a call to action: “We fight for everybody’s right to have freedom of speech because it means my speech is free, it means your speech is free.”
Kimmel’s return may bring some closure for late-night fans. Still, the episode has opened up a larger discourse about the boundaries of government power, corporate responsibility, and what free expression really looks like in today’s political landscape.
