First Amendment debate brews after ABC pulls “Jimmy Kimmel Live” off air

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - ABC’s parent company, Disney, pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live” off the air after pressure from affiliates and the FCC, sparking debate about freedom of speech.

During his Monday monologue, Kimmel suggested Charlie Kirk’s killer might have been a pro-Trump republican. The chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, threatened to take action against Disney and ABC over Kimmel’s comments.

Nexstar and Sinclair, who own stations across the country, announced plans to preempt the show shortly before ABC made its decision.

TV20 spoke with Clay Calvert, a University of Florida professor emeritus and First Amendment expert, about the company’s decision and the repercussions that followed.

“Sinclair and Nexstar, which pulled Jimmy Kimmel from their stations, that was their choice and their decision to do. They knew very well, however, that the FCC and Brendan Carr had made a statement suggesting that Carr didn’t like this content. So in a way, they could see the writing on the wall,” Clay Calvert, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, stated.

Calvert says the FCC can use its power because it feels as though Kimmel’s comments go against the public interest.

“The airwaves are a finite resource, and the Federal Communications Commission has the power to police that in the name of the public interest. And in this case, what we saw was Brendan Carr suggesting that the comments of Jimmy Kimmel did not serve the public interest, and implying that there might be investigations by the FCC.”

However, Calvert wonders what it truly means to “serve the public interest.”

“Because the FCC, the federal communications commission, polices the over-the-air broadcast airwaves, it has some power using this ‘public interest standard’ to try to say ‘no, that crossed a line, it doesn’t serve the public interest.’ What does it really mean to serve the public interest? Is it what the public is interested in? Or is it what the government thinks the public should watch?” Calvert questioned.

In an important note, TV20 is an ABC affiliate owned by Gray Media. Our station was not involved in the decision to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live” from the air.

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