Jimmy Kimmel has gotten a wave of support from his showbiz peers after his late night talk show was abruptly halted by ABC, and his fellow comic Julia Louis-Dreyfus is one one of the latest to lend him her support. As fans know, the show was put on an “indefinite hiatus” after it was reported that Kimmel’s coverage of Trump’s reaction to the shooting death of media personality Charlie Kirk was met with disapproval from FCC head Brendan Carr. CNN says Carr told ABC and its local affiliates Kimmel should be suspended and said, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Kirk, a controversial niche podcaster who became nationally known after being shot dead by a 22-year-old ex-student during a speech at a Utah university, was a major supporter of Trump’s presidential campaign, serving as chairman of a group called Students for Trump. Kimmel joked in his September 17 monologue that Trump’s curt comment “I’m doing good” before bringing up the construction of a new White House ballroom was an unusual way to react to the death of a friend. Watch the full monologue below, and read on for Dreyfus’ reaction to Kimmel’s cancellation.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus: ‘I Stand With Jimmy’
Dreyfus, known for comedy classics such as “Seinfeld” and “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” took to her Instagram around September 18 to share a snap of her and Jimmy in happier times. She captioned the post, “I stand with @jimmykimmellive. I stand for Free Speech. I stand for Democracy. SHAME SHAME SHAME @ABC.”
“We stand with Jimmy AND Stephen,” one fan agreed, referencing the July 25 cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” which CBS attributed to financial challenges, per The Guardian.
Another fan encouraged fellow Kimmel supporters to vote with their wallets. “Cancel your HULU/Disney subscriptions. All of my peeps have,” they wrote.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Shared ‘Free Speech Rights’ Message on Monday
On Monday, September 22, Dreyfus was back on Instagram to share that she’s taking part in an ACLU campaign to “defend and preserve our free speech rights.” The 64-year-old is joined by over 400 other artists, according to the post.
The official message, which was signed by entertainers such as Ben Stiller, Bryan Cranston, Jane Fonda, Florence Pugh, and many others, began, “We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech. Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.”
The message went on to call Kimmel’s removal from the air “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation” after saying Kimmel was cancelled because “the government threatened a private compnay with retaliation.”
The message, which can be read in its entirety below, concluded with, “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”
Jimmy Kimmel’s Show is Coming Back, Says ABC
Deadline reported on Monday, September 22 that ABC has announced “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is returning tomorrow night, Tuesday, September 23, after “thoughtful conversations” with parent company Disney.
The story quoted a spokesman as saying, “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
