\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe union that represents writers on Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em> is ripping ABC for pulling the show off air after the comedian made some viral remarks regarding the shooting of Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other \u2014 to disturb, even \u2014 is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice,\u201d said the Writers Guild of America West and East on Wednesday night, not long after Disney-owned ABC said it was pulling the show \u201cindefinitely.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tThe union added, \u201cAs a Guild, we stand united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent. If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn\u2019t have bothered to write it into the Constitution. What we have signed on to \u2014 painful as it may be at times \u2014 is the freeing agreement to disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe statement continued: \u201cShame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich. Silencing us impoverishes the whole world.\u00a0The WGA stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe industry\u2019s performers\u2019 union, SAG-AFTRA, also released a statement in response to the news of the suspension. \u201cOur society depends on freedom of expression. Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on,\u201d the union stated. \u201cDemocracy thrives when diverse points of view are expressed. The decision to suspend airing Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em> is the type of suppression and retaliation that endangers everyone\u2019s freedoms. SAG-AFTRA stands with all media artists and defends their right to express their diverse points of view, and everyone\u2019s right to hear them.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tABC\u2019s decision marked a significant escalation of an event that took place earlier in the day: Major local TV station owner Nexstar decided to pull the late-night show from its stations in the wake of Kimmel\u2019s comments on Tuesday. Nexstar broadcasting division president Andrew Alford called Kimmel\u2019s remarks \u201coffensive and insensitive\u201d in his explanation of the move, adding that giving Kimmel a platform was \u201cnot in the public interest at the current time.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn the remarks that prompted the firestorm, Kimmel commented on the shooting of Kirk, a <\/strong>right-wing activist, at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. \u201cWe hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,\u201d Kimmel said.<\/p>\n \n\tFederal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr came out swinging against Kimmel\u2019s commentary in an interview with a YouTuber early on Wednesday, bringing up the potential for certain ABC affiliates\u2019 licenses to be revoked. He called for ABC affiliates to \u201cpush back\u201d and tell the network, \u201cListen, we\u2019re not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we\u2019re running the possibility of license revocation from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tKimmel had been prepared to address the backlash on his Wednesday show, a source told THR<\/em>, but not apologize.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The union that represents writers on Jimmy Kimmel Live! is ripping ABC for pulling the show off air after the comedian made some viral remarks regarding the shooting of Charlie Kirk. \u201cThe right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other \u2014 to disturb, even \u2014 is at the very heart of what<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[2055,361,235,441,132,13559,11434,13558],"class_list":{"0":"post-22104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-abc","9":"tag-air","10":"tag-jimmy","11":"tag-kimmel","12":"tag-live","13":"tag-pulling","14":"tag-rips","15":"tag-wga"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}