As ABCโs indefinite suspension of โJimmy Kimmel Live!โ enters its second week, the co-hosts of โThe Viewโ are throwing their support behind the late-night host and the 1st Amendment โ on the networkโs own airwaves.
In the immediate aftermath of Kimmelโs suspension over comments about MAGA and the killing of right-wing activist and podcaster Charlie Kirk, his late-night contemporaries decried ABCโs decision while his famously outspoken daytime counterparts were uncharacteristically mum on the weekโs hottest topic. That was no longer the case during Mondayโs episode.
โDid yโall really think we werenโt going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel?โ Whoopi Goldberg said to open the showโs โHot Topicsโ segment. โI mean, have you watched the show over the last 29 seasons? So you know: No one silences us.โ
Goldberg explained the delay in the showโs response, noting that she and her panel of co-hosts โtook a breathโ 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 showโs home at the El Capitan Entertainment Center, in an open letter by the ACLU signed by scores of celebrities, and now on โThe View.โ
โWe are live here today and weโre getting into it now,โ Goldberg said. โTo be clear: You cannot like a show and it can go off the air. Someone can say something they shouldnโt and get taken off the air. But the government cannot apply pressure to force someone to be silenced.โ
Last week ABC, which was not named in Mondayโs 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 Kirkโs 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 Kirkโs family and make a โmeaningful personal donationโ to Turning Point USA, his conservative political organization.
Goldberg continued Mondayโs segment by criticizing President Trump: โI donโt understand how you are the man in charge of the nation and you still donโt understand how the 1st Amendment works.โ
Each panelist โ sans Joy Behar who was absent from Mondayโs broadcast โ took a turn to address the suspension. Sunny Hostin cited the origins of the 1st Amendment while Ana Navarro praised viewers for โdemanding truth and courage from usโ and said she finds it ironic that the fallout after Kirkโs death is โbeing used to silence people and cancel people.โ
Navarro added, โThe government itself is using its weight and power to bully and scare people into silence.โ
Alyssa Farah Griffin said the 1st Amendment is necessary to hold the government accountable.
The women of โThe Viewโ broke their silence on Kimmelโs suspension after reports last week that Carr had the daytime series in his sights. During an appearance on conservative commentator Scott Jenningsโ podcast, Carr indicated that โThe Viewโ might be investigated to see whether it qualifies as โa bona fide news program,โ which would exempt it from the FCCโs equal time rule.
โThe Viewโ did not address those reports, but Goldberg concluded โHot Topicsโ with a reminder to viewers and her co-stars: โWe fight for everybodyโs right to have freedom of speech, because it means my speech is free, it means your speech is free.โ
Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.