By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Government pressure played no role in the suspension of late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said on Monday – despite having suggested the ABC host be suspended over remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“Jimmy Kimmel is in the situation that he is in because of his ratings, not because of anything that’s happened at the federal government level,” Carr said at a forum in New York.
A growing number of lawmakers had sharply criticized Carr’s comments when he urged Disney and ABC affiliates to take action, saying: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
On Monday, Disney said the show will return to the air on Tuesday after having conversations with Kimmel. The company said last week it had decided to suspend the show “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”
ABC suspended Kimmel’s late-night talk show on Wednesday after Carr warned that local broadcasters who aired Kimmel could face fines or loss of licenses and said “it’s time for them to step up.” The owners of dozens of local TV stations affiliated with ABC said last week they would stop broadcasting the show, including Nexstar, which needs FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna.
Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez rejected Carr’s suggestion. “This wasn’t simply a ‘business decision,'” Gomez said Monday. “This regrettable chapter is a stain on the FCC. It was a concerning moment of direct government intervention into business decisions.”
CNN reported that Carr reacted last week to ABC’s suspension of Kimmel with a celebratory dancing GIF from “The Office.” Carr wrote on X on Thursday after the suspension that he hoped other local programmers would stop airing the show. “It is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values.”
On Friday, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, a Republican, said Carr’s threat was dangerous.
“I got to say that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas’,” Cruz said, evoking the Martin Scorsese gangster movie. “That’s right out of a Mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it.'”
Carr sought to clarify his earlier comment on Monday, saying he meant networks and broadcasters can address issues about news distortion.
“If they don’t, there’s a way that’s not as easy – which is someone can file a complaint at the FCC, and then the FCC … has to adjudicate that complaint,” Carr said.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Chris Reese and Matthew Lewis)
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