‘Americaโ is not happy’: โABCโ faces backlash after axing Jimmy Kimmel Live!
ABC โis weathering a storm of criticism after announcing the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, with viewersโ accusing โthe network ofโค caving to politicalโค pressure fromโข Federal Communications Commission (FCC) โคCommissioner Brendan Carr โคand former President โฃDonaldโ Trump.
The decision sparked immediate outrage online, โคwith โmanyโ threatening to boycott ABC and its parent company, Disney. One complainant,claiming a history of escaping socialism,directly accused the network of suppressing free speech and mirroring tacticsโข used by authoritarian โregimes: “Can you explain โwhy you actively trying to destroy free speech and the first amendment? I grew up inโค the socialism and went through hell to escape and now you act exactly like them.”
Concerns wereโฃ raised โregarding pending merger deals involving Nexstar โขand Sinclair before the FCC,leading some to speculateโ the cancellation wasโข motivated byโฃ securing approval for those deals. โค”Shame, Shame, Shame. Folded to โthe bully โCarr and Trump.โ All for theโ pending sale?” one viewer wrote.
Others expressed โขthier anger more directly, with oneโ commenter labeling the move a “Gestapo Takeover by the Trump administration” and vowing to stop watchingโข all ABC shows. The online discourse โalso โincluded references to historical dictatorships, invoking what is known as Godwin’s law.
Not all feedback was negative. Aโ small number of respondents stated they dislikedโ Kimmel’s comedy and welcomed his departure,โ with โขone โฃwriting, “Evenโ thoughโฃ I never watch ABCโฆI โขappreciate that you had the โgood sense to boot Kimmel.”โ Another criticโ dismissed Kimmel โคas “totally talentless.”
Viewers wishing to provide feedback to ABC can do so through the โฃnetwork’sโ online contact form: โ https://support.abc.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360003079511.
A recent articleโฃ in ABC News highlighted concerns about the future of late-night television, noting Jimmy โฃKimmel’s โdeparture amidโค a changing mediaโค landscape.(https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-18/jimmy-kimmel-stephen-colbert-late-night-in-trump-america/105788394)