‘We Can’t Let Bullies Win’

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.

I am concerned about the potential elimination of one of the fundamental reasons we love living here and love being Americans. It’s not every place on Earth where you can get up every day and you are free from governmental or military threat (at least until recently, with ICE dragging people off the street), where you can express yourself. We want to keep living in a country where you can say what you think, regardless of who agrees with you or disagrees with you, where you can become the person that you want to be, where you can wear what you want to wear, where you can fall in love with whoever you want to fall in love with.

It really goes so far beyond late-night talk-show hosts or comedians. The message I want to send is that just because you’re not a professional comedian or you’re not in Hollywood doesn’t mean you are not deeply affected by the eventual consequences of not speaking up against this, of allowing this to happen. I do fear that centering all these conversations about freedom of speech around a very famous person who’s on TV every night will make it very easy for the Donald Trumps and Stephen Millers of the world to make this a coastal elite versus non-coastal elite conversation. 

And that truly isn’t what this is. That’s just the example this week. The media is on the front lines of this, because Trump is driven crazy by them. The man can’t take a joke. But if it can happen to someone as wealthy and powerful and visible as Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert, think about what they’re willing and able to do to any average American who doesn’t have Colbert or Kimmel’s resources. 

This is not merely about what you can or cannot — or will not — be able to pitch in a writers room at a talk show or a sitcom. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and we’re already seeing it because normalizing what happened to Colbert made it easier for them and empowered Brendan Carr to take that argument to Disney via the FCC. I know that Nexstar is a big part of this, and that, as always, it comes down to the bottom line. [Editor’s note: A spokesperson for Nexstar, the nation’s largest owner of TV stations, has denied that FCC pressure influenced their decision to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live before his suspension was announced.]

I’ve worked for Disney, as so many people in my field have. In my experience, these are good people. I’ve always enjoyed working for them. I’ve always had wonderful experiences working for them. Disney has been a very progressive company, actually, especially when it comes to issues that matter to me a lot, like LGBTQ+ issues. The message I would send to them is — and I’m quoting Pete Buttigieg here — if you think that it is worth it to just give Trump and Carr this temporary win and that this will mean that they’ll get off your backs, you’re wrong. As Pete said, if you’re trying to ride this tiger, it will eat you eventually. There is no going back. They are just going to not only want more, but demand it, and exploit business deals and mergers that they know they have approval over to get what they want: to try to control what is being said on TV, online, on any platform.

These guys saw an opening here to manipulate all of us. And now we’re sitting here talking about Jimmy Kimmel and not talking about the psychotic birthday note Trump wrote and gave to his friend Jeffrey Epstein. [Editor’s note: Trump has denied any involvement with the letter, and has sued the Wall Street Journal for libel over its story reporting its existence.]. They’ve gotten what they wanted, not only in Jimmy Kimmel getting suspended, but in controlling the national conversation. So we can’t let that happen either. 

What they really want is a type of national brainwashing. I know in a way that sounds so crazy, 1980s-level sci-fi stuff. And I’ll be honest and say in those early Trump years, you would see people posting Handmaid’s Tale memes. I love the spirit and the intentions of that, but for a while there I’d roll my eyes and say, “Things are bad, but it ain’t The Handmaid’s Tale, exactly. Let’s all calm down. It’s a bit extreme.” I take that back. I am no longer rolling my eyes. This is it. It will get worse if we don’t speak up. We’ve got to speak up.

They are truly just schoolyard bullies taken to a much higher, more visible level in the public sphere. But they have the souls and the hearts and the fragility and insecurities of that schoolyard bully. And we all know we can’t let the bullies win. 

To be clear, political violence is barbaric and horrifying. I thought the Charlie Kirk story was terrifying. That’s not the world we want to live in. That’s not how we solve disputes. I’m not for that at all. I don’t want anyone to be murdered. The Democratic Party, which I’m affiliated with, I don’t agree with everything they say either. But they’re the ones who are always campaigning to limit the number of guns on the street. We need to speak up in ethical ways — not violently, but passionately. Speaking up matters. It matters even if you don’t have a big following, if you’re not an entertainer. I think it counts even more. What we say sometimes just starts to feel like noise. It’s like, “All right, there’s another liberal celebrity saying what we expect them to say.”

So if you are not in show business, if you’re not known for having a big social media platform, I think it means even more to speak up in whatever way you’re comfortable with. Maybe that means talking to your kids and keeping an eye on what is being allowed to be said in school and what’s not. Maybe it means going to a protest. Maybe it does mean posting on Facebook or social media or whatever your platform is. But I know there is power in numbers here.

This is not the first time this has happened in history, but we also know it can get much worse for everyone, including working-class people and middle-class people. Again, this is not just about Hollywood. Every voice counts. It can and will get worse if we don’t speak up. We’ve got to speak up.

Billy Eichner is a four-time Emmy-nominated actor and writer. He is the star and creator of Billy on the Street, and was the star of 2022’s Bros. His other acting work includes prominent roles in Disney’s The Lion King (2019) and Mufasa: The Lion King, as well as TV series including Parks and Recreation, American Horror Story, American Crime Story, and Difficult People. In 2020, he served as a guest host on Jimmy Kimmel Live.