The Late Present with Stephen Colbert throughout Thursday’s July 25, 2019 present.
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Late-night host Stephen Colbert gave a full-throated protection of Jimmy Kimmel on Thursday evening and referred to as President Donald Trump an “autocrat.”
“That is blatant censorship,” Colbert stated through the taping of his CBS present in New York Metropolis, referring to the suspension of the “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!” present a day earlier by ABC.
Kimmel was suspended over his current on-air feedback linking the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to Trump’s MAGA motion of Trump.
“With an autocrat, you can not give an inch,” Colbert stated.
Trump has praised Kimmel’s suspension.
“Jimmy, I stand with you and your workers 100%” stated Colbert.
Earlier Thursday, late-night legend David Letterman referred to as ABC’s suspension of Kimmel’s present “ridiculous,” saying, “You may’t go round firing anyone since you’re fearful or making an attempt to suck as much as an authoritarian felony administration within the Oval Workplace.”
“I really feel dangerous about this as a result of all of us see the place that is going, appropriate?” Letterman informed Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg at The Atlantic Competition in New York.
David Letterman takes half within the 2025 Atlantic Competition at PAC NYC on Sept. 18, 2025 in New York Metropolis.
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“It is managed media,” stated Letterman, who hosted exhibits on CBS and NBC for greater than three many years.
“And it is no good. It is foolish. It is ridiculous,” he stated.
ABC, which is a subsidiary of Disney, on Wednesday evening stated it was pulling the “Jimmy Kimmel Stay!” showcase the air “indefinitely.” Kimmel has not been fired.
Letterman on Thursday in contrast ABC’s transfer to the choice by CBS in July to cancel its “The Late Present With Stephen Colbert,” efficient subsequent Could.
Every week after CBS cancelled the Colbert present — which has mocked Trump — the Federal Communications Fee accredited an $8 billion merger between the community’s proprietor, Paramount, and Skydance Media.
“They took care of Colbert,” Letterman stated Thursday.
“That was impolite, that was inexcusable, the person deserves quite a lot of credit score, he is within the Corridor of Fame 9 occasions, and to be manipulated like that, as a result of the Ellison household [which owned Skydance] did not need to hassle Donald Trump with this transfer, in order that they removed him,” Letterman stated.
“Not solely removed him, removed the entire franchise.”
Letterman stated he is been in contact with Kimmel because the suspension was introduced.
“He was good sufficient to textual content me this morning,” Letterman stated. “And he is sitting up in mattress taking nourishment. He will be fantastic.”
One other late-night host, Jon Stewart, on Thursday deliberate to host an episode of “The Each day Present.”
Stewart, as a rule, solely hosts the Comedy Central present on Mondays. He’s set to interview Maria Ressa, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and the writer of the e-book “The way to Stand As much as a Dictator,” the Related Press reported.
Trump on Wednesday evening crowed about Kimmel’s suspension and talked about Colbert.
“Congratulations to ABC for lastly having the braveness to do what needed to be accomplished,” Trump wrote in a Fact Social submit. “Kimmel has ZERO expertise, and worse rankings than even Colbert, if that is doable.”
He advised that NBC observe ABC’s instance and cancel its personal night exhibits, “The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon,” and “Late Night time with Seth Meyers.”
Trump advised to reporters on Thursday that the FCC may revoke the licenses of broadcast tv networks which might be “towards” him.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who misplaced the 2024 presidential election to Trump, in a tweet on Thursday, stated, “What we’re witnessing is an outright abuse of energy.”
“This administration is attacking critics and utilizing concern as a weapon to silence anybody who would communicate out,” she wrote.
“Media firms — from tv networks to newspapers — are capitulating to those threats,” Harris wrote. “We can’t dare to be silent or complacent within the face of this frontal assault on free speech.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the guardian firm of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would grow to be the brand new guardian firm of CNBC upon Comcast’s deliberate spinoff of Versant.
