Howard Stern Backs Jimmy Kimmel, Calls ABC Suspension ‘Really Dumb’

Howard Stern called ABC’s decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel “really dumb and fucking horrible,” and said he’s cancelling his Disney+ subscription in protest.

Stern, who was off last week, addressed the still-simmering controversy when he returned to his SiriusXM show Monday, Sept. 22, saying, “When the government says, ‘I’m not pleased with you, so we’re going to orchestrate a way to silence you,’ it’s the wrong direction for our country. It Isn’t good” (via Billboard and USA Today).

Jimmy Kimmel Live is still off the air after being pulled “indefinitely” last Wednesday following an uproar from conservatives over a joke Kimmel made about the suspect accused of killing Charlie Kirk. Trump’s Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, had called on licensed broadcasters to stop airing the show, and not long after, Nexstar and Sinclair — which own myriad ABC affiliates around the country — announced that they would preempt his program. ABC made its decision to pull the show soon after.

“You can’t support this kind of a move,” Stern said of Kimmel’s suspension. “I don’t care whether you like Jimmy or not. It’s about freedom of speech. If ABC wanted to fire Jimmy because they didn’t like him, or he had low ratings — they didn’t want to fire him. They’re being pressured by the United States government. We can’t have that, not if we’re going to have a democracy.”

Stern said the situation was especially “painful” because he’s a longtime friend of Kimmel and his wife, Molly McNearney. “I believe Jimmy is such a big talent, and quite frankly, so is his wife,” Stern said. “They’re two of the funniest people I have ever met.”

The host also noted his own battles with the FCC during the early Nineties. At that time, the agency went after Stern over material they deemed indecent, as opposed to anything overtly political, though there are some echoes with the current situation. For instance, the FCC not only fined Stern’s former parent company, Infinity Broadcasting, millions over the content of his shows, but threatened to revoke its broadcasting license, and even held up its acquisition of three radio stations. (The sale ultimately went through.) Nexstar, the first company to say it would preempt Kimmel, is currently seeking to pull off a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna, which will require the FCC’s approval.

Stern went on to criticize ABC, universities, and other companies that have “all bent the knee” to Trump. “The basis of this country is the government doesn’t tell you what to say,” he said, adding: “Someone’s got to stand up and be fucking saying, ‘Hey, enough, we’re not gonna bow.’” 

Kimmel has received support from an array of friends and peers, including his fellow late-night hosts, both past and present. In an op-ed for Rolling Stone, comedian Billy Eichner wrote, “Jimmy Kimmel‘s suspension under these circumstances is a fundamental attack on each individual American, regardless of party affiliation, regardless of whether or not you even vote. It affects every single American’s ability to lead the life they want to lead, to think whatever they want to think. I truly believe it is that fundamental. That might sound hyperbolic to some people, but I don’t think it is.”