Democrats, Hollywood condemn suspension of Kimmel over Kirk comments

Democratic lawmakers and Hollywood writers and actors condemned what they called an attack on free speech led by United States President Donald Trump after American talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air for comments about murdered American right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.

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ABC, the broadcaster owned by Walt Disney, said on Sept 17 that it was yanking Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely. At least one local TV station affiliate had said it would replace the show on its airwaves, and the nation’s top communications regulator threatened to investigate Kimmel’s commentary about Mr Kirk, a prominent Trump ally.

Comedian Kimmel, 57, a frequent Trump critic, said on his show on Monday that Mr Kirk’s allies were using his assassination to “score political points”. Mr Kirk, 31, was shot onstage as he debated students at a university in Utah on Sept 10.

Leaders of the Democratic minority in the US House of Representatives said Mr Trump and his Republican Party were mounting an assault on free-speech rights guaranteed in the US Constitution’s First Amendment.

In the Democrats’ joint statement, they accused TV networks of cowardice, and Mr Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appointed by Mr Trump, of a “corrupt abuse of power”.