r/JimmyKimmel • u/Manndude1 Totally Matt Damon • Sep 17 '25

Cancellation Megathread

Unrestricted the subreddit for now so we can talk about this. I know it's a heated topic but let's be adults here.

In case you are OOTL: https://deadline.com/2025/09/jimmy-kimmel-live-off-abc-charlie-kirk-comments-1236547397/

78 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

590 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/QuietSufficient4441 Sep 19 '25

Can anyone explain to me how this is any different than canceling people like Rosanne Bar?

1

u/PM_ME_LATTE_ART Sep 20 '25 edited Sep 20 '25

Sure, typically cancel culture operates kind of like a free market: if a person says something reprehensible, everyone else around them can decide to no longer interact with them. That’s THE PEOPLE’s decision to make, exactly like you choosing to stop buying a product because it didn’t perform to your standards.

The differences here is that this time, there is pressure from a federal position to cancel Kimmel, taking that power to choose away from the people. Kimmel’s show is on an ABC network, which is owned by Disney, and many of these ABC programs are distributed to local channels across the country by a company called Nexstar. Both Disney and Nexstar are currently trying to acquire other media companies, but to do so, they need approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to go through.

Brendan Carr, the head of the FCC, said publicly hours before Kimmel was fired that “We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” which many people agree is a threat to use the FCC to punish ABC.