Jimmy Kimmel suspension: ABC’s ‘The View’ breaks its silence

As ABC’s indefinite suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” enters its second week, the co-hosts of “The View” are throwing their support behind the late-night host and the 1st Amendment — on the network’s own airwaves.

In the immediate aftermath of Kimmel’s suspension over comments about MAGA and the killing of right-wing activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk, his late-night contemporaries decried ABC’s decision while his famously outspoken daytime counterparts were uncharacteristically mum on the week’s hottest topic. That was no longer the case during Monday’s episode.

“Did y’all really think we weren’t going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel?” Whoopi Goldberg said to open the show’s “Hot Topics” segment. “I mean, have you watched the show over the last 29 seasons? So you know: No one silences us.”

Goldberg explained the delay in the show’s response, noting that she and her panel of co-hosts “took a breath” to allow Kimmel the opportunity to address the suspension on his own terms. The longtime late-night star has yet to publicly break his silence on the matter, but has since garnered a groundswell of support including from fans protesting outside the show’s home at the El Capitan Entertainment Center, in an open letter by the ACLU signed by scores of celebrities, and now on “The View.”

“We are live here today and we’re getting into it now,” Goldberg said. “To be clear: You cannot like a show and it can go off the air. Someone can say something they shouldn’t and get taken off the air. But the government cannot apply pressure to force someone to be silenced.”

Last week ABC, which was not named in Monday’s segment, pulled Kimmel of the air after affiliate-station owners Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group announced plans to suspend the host for his comments about Kirk’s death. Prior to that decision, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr had blasted Kimmel and threatened to take action against ABC.

Nexstar needs FCC approval to move forward with its proposed merger with station group Tegna. Sinclair wants Kimmel to apologize to Kirk’s family and make a “meaningful personal donation” to Turning Point USA, his conservative political organization.

Goldberg continued Monday’s segment by criticizing President Trump: “I don’t understand how you are the man in charge of the nation and you still don’t understand how the 1st Amendment works.”

Each panelist — sans Joy Behar who was absent from Monday’s broadcast — took a turn to address the suspension. Sunny Hostin cited the origins of the 1st Amendment while Ana Navarro praised viewers for “demanding truth and courage from us” and said she finds it ironic that the fallout after Kirk’s death is “being used to silence people and cancel people.”

Navarro added, “The government itself is using its weight and power to bully and scare people into silence.”

Alyssa Farah Griffin said the 1st Amendment is necessary to hold the government accountable.

The women of “The View” broke their silence on Kimmel’s suspension after reports last week that Carr had the daytime series in his sights. During an appearance on conservative commentator Scott Jennings’ podcast, Carr indicated that “The View” might be investigated to see whether it qualifies as “a bona fide news program,” which would exempt it from the FCC’s equal time rule.

“The View” did not address those reports, but Goldberg concluded “Hot Topics” with a reminder to viewers and her co-stars: “We fight for everybody’s right to have freedom of speech, because it means my speech is free, it means your speech is free.”

Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.