LATE-NIGHT ABSENCE STIRS WORRY IN HOLLYWOOD

Jimmy Kimmel helped lift the area's fortunes. Now, locals fear life without him.

- By Christopher Buchanan and Hailey Branson-Potts

PROTESTERS gather in front of the "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" theater a day after ABC pulled the show off air.

They stood right outside Jimmy Kimmel's studio on Hollywood Boulevard, arguing about whether ABC was right to yank the host's TV show off the air last week after he commented on the political response to right-wing activist Charlie Kirk’s killing.

“I like Kimmel!” said the Spider-Man impersonator, who wore pink Nike sneakers and leaned in close so he could hear through his thin, face-covering costume. “What he said is free speech.”

Todd Doten, a tour agent for Beverly Hills Tours of Hollywood, pushed back. He said he believed broadcasters are held to a different standard than private citizens, and that the Federal Communications Commission — which pushed to get Kimmel’s show canceled —“has somewhat of a point.”

DEMONSTRATORS gathered at the El Capitan Entertainment Centre in Hollywood on Thursday to protest ABC's decision to pull "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" off the air.

The men verbally sparred beside singer Little Richard’s cracked star on the Walk of Fame. Then Doten patted the selfie-hawking superhero on the back and they parted ways amicably.

The scene on Friday afternoon captured the Hollywood that Kimmel embraced and aggressively promoted: Weird, gritty and surprisingly poignant.