People gathered in Times Square on Saturday for a free speech rally that turned into a roast as outcry against ABC’s indefinite suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” continues.
The network announced the show would be pre-empted after Kimmel suggested allies of President Trump were trying to use Charlie Kirk’s assassination for political gain in his monologue Monday.
“None of us are safe”
Saturday’s rally was led by artists and comedians who targeted Mr. Trump and called on corporations and the community to stand up for free speech.
Protesters said they’re going to continue to speak out until there’s a resolution.
“This wasn’t a bunch of civilians saying, ‘I don’t like what that performer is saying. I’m not buying tickets.’ Those are all perfectly acceptable things to do,” one protester said. “This was government overreach and government silencing. And if Jimmy Kimmel, for the insanely tame comment that he made, got censored, got silenced because of that, none of us are safe.”
On Friday, members of the Writers Guild of America East were joined by others, including City Comptroller Brad Lander, for a protest outside ABC headquarters in Lower Manhattan.
“We are not going to be silent while you try to silence freedom of speech,” Lander said.
These rallies in support of Kimmel show no signs of slowing down, with more being organized in the coming days in New York and across the country.
Trump “had nothing to do with” Kimmel suspension, White House says
The White says Mr. Trump was not involved in Kimmel getting pulled off the air.
“I can speak on behalf of the President of the United States, and while he’s pleased with this decision, we had nothing to do with it. It was ABC’s decision,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
Kimmel is reportedly involved in ongoing discussions with Disney and ABC executives to get back on the air, but the conditions on how and when that will happen remain unclear.
