How Jimmy Kimmel is giving us a crash course in the first amendment

After almost a week of being off the air, Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to broadcast television Tuesday night.

This comes after the ABC show was taken off the air following Kimmel’s Sept. 15 monologue, during which he discussed the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Kimmel’s comments suggested that the shooting suspect was a MAGA Republican and in response, on Sept. 17, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr threatened to take action against the late night host and ABC—literally saying, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” like some sort of supervillain (or a mafioso, as Sen. Ted Cruz described him). And that action was swift as Kimmel was taken off the air that same day, with Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, two of the country’s biggest owners of local TV stations, saying they would preempt the show indefinitely. As a result, the show was suspended.

Turns out “indefinitely” meant only a few days in this case because just as swiftly did Disney (which owns ABC) suspend Kimmel, did members of the public make their ire known. In addition to protests outside of Disney and ABC affiliate studios, people boycotted Disney by canceling planned trips to Disney theme parks or Disney cruises, as well as their subscriptions to the company’s streaming providers such as Disney+ and Hulu (some actors with shows on these platforms even encouraged people to do so).

The return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! was announced on Monday—though the show hasn’t returned everywhere as both Nexstar and Sinclair are still choosing to preempt the show. In a statement, Disney said, Kimmel and the show were suspended “to avoid inflaming a tense situation,” going on to state that the decision was made because they “felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.”

While Kimmel was taken off the air for less than a week—honestly, he spent more days on vacation this summer, with the show featuring guest hosts while he was out—the number of days he spent off the air isn’t as significant as is the fact that he was even taken off the air to begin with.

Free speech doesn’t mean free from consequences—just consequences from government

For a quick refresher, here’s the first amendment in its entirety:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The first amendment is a journalist’s bread and butter. Among other things, it’s what allows us to report on and call out any injustices we observe in our communities, without the fear of retaliation from the government.

Freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences. If someone says something hateful or harmful, they definitely need to be held accountable. Freedom of speech, as stated in the first amendment, means the government doesn’t get involved in those consequences.

This is why everything that’s been happening in the late night television world is so troubling. If it was just Nexstar and Sinclair deciding to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! independently, that would be one thing. However, it should be noted that Nexstar is in discussions to acquire the media company Tegna Inc., and Sinclair is also exploring merger options—and such deals must be approved by the FCC.

So it’s not a huge leap to say that Nexstar and Sinclair are being influenced by the hold the FCC—a government agency—has over them over any potential business transactions.

Rich white canaries

Kimmel is the second late night talk show host who has been pulled off the air (even temporarily). In July, Stephen Colbert, host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, announced that CBS will be canceling his show after one more season. This announcement came just days after CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, agreed to pay President Donald Trump a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit regarding an interview with then-Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris on CBS’s 60 Minutes.

Kimmel and Colbert have been described as canaries in the coal mine. But in reality, they are just the latest in a long line of attacks Trump and his administration have taken against the media. Those attacks include removing The Associated Press from the White House press pool, slashing funding for PBS and NPR, laying off hundreds at the government-funded Voice of America, and filing lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times for $10 billion and $15 billion, respectively (yes, that’s billion with a B)—the latter of which has since been thrown out.

So really, the late night hosts shouldn’t serve as warnings of dangerous things to come. They’re evidence that the dangerous times are now upon us. Because all of the Trump administration’s actions this year have been the warnings—people just haven’t been paying attention since those journalists have been mostly anonymous. But now that rich white guys are under attack, suddenly everyone is taking notice (and yes, I’m aware I am lumping these comedians in with journalists, but in this case, part of their work as late night hosts has been to inform folks about what is happening with our government—a key part of a free press). And as much as I hate to give rich white guys credit, I will take it here if it gets people to realize that free speech in this country is under attack.

It’s our thing

One of the fundamental principles that the United States was founded on was the ability to criticize the government. It’s right there in the first amendment: “To petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” So if there’s something that doesn’t sit right with us about how this country is being run, we have the right (and I would say the obligation) to speak up and let our voices, and grievances, be heard. If this wasn’t so important to our founding fathers, they wouldn’t have put it in the very first amendment; it would’ve been further down in the document.

This country is known for having the right to free speech. You can say it’s “our thing.” We cannot lose it.

And don’t forget that the U.S. Constitution’s preamble starts out, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union.” A more perfect union—meaning there is always room for improvement.

If you want to fight for free speech in a more formal way than just posting to social media, there are organizations you can donate to or volunteer with, including the Asian Americans Advancing Justice, whose mission is to "advance the civil and human rights of Asian Americans and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all," and the Asian American Journalists Association, which works to increase AA+PI perspectives and representation in newsrooms, media and storytelling. There’s also the American Civil Liberties Union, which works to defend civil liberties and civil rights.

Now is not the time to keep quiet. It’s time for us as a people to speak up, speak out, and let our federal government know that what they’re doing is wrong. After all, it’s our right to do so.