During his appearance at the 26th annual New York Festival this weekend, late-night TV host Jon Stewart addressed the recent suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC show.
Stewart, 62, shared his experience of hosting an episode of his Daily Show shortly after the abrupt suspension of 57-year-old Kimmel’s self-titled talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! The program was temporarily pulled off-air by ABC following comments made by Kimmel about the assassination of Charlie Kirk, which occurred in early September.
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“It rattled everyone to some extent, but it also presented a great opportunity. I don’t think we’ve had as much fun as we did that Thursday morning coming up with all the stupid little s–t you see, including gold pictures and red ties. It gave us some purpose,” Stewart told New Yorker editor David Remnick.
Stewart was vocal about his disapproval of the suspension of Kimmel’s show, sharing the same outrage as late-night fans and fellow celebrities over the network’s decision, reports the Irish Star.
“The shows that you now seek to cancel, censor, and control…a not-insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those damn shows. What made you that money are shows that say something, take a stand, are unafraid,” the talk show host expressed around the time of Kimmel’s suspension.
“If you believe – as corporations or as networks – that you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king’s radar…Why would anyone watch you? And you are f—–g wrong,” the comedian added.
Jimmy found himself in hot water during his opening monologue from an episode that aired on September 15, where he alleged that Donald Trump’s supporters were “desperately trying to characterize” the 22-year-old shooter who killed Charlie as “anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Several days afterward, an ABC spokesperson revealed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be “preempted indefinitely” following Jimmy’s comments about the right-wing podcaster.
Nevertheless, following significant backlash that triggered a boycott and sparked a nationwide discussion about censorship, ABC’s parent company, Disney, revealed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would make its comeback on September 23, nearly a week after the show’s suspension.
“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday (September 23),” Disney stated on September 22.
Jimmy utilized his opening monologue for the September 23 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to issue an apology for his remarks about Charlie. “It’s important to me as a human. And that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said through tears at the time.
“I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it and I still do,” he added. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.”
He then concluded, “But I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger… I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.”
