Beverly Press Park Labrea News: Lawmakers rally for Jimmy Kimmel

Last week, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump both made calls for Disney to take Jimmy Kimmel, host of the ABC late-night series “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” off the air, citing his jokes against the president, which they characterized as harmful. Trump alleged that Kimmel called for “violence.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the “rhetoric” was “completely deranged.”

The joke in question – said two days before the White House Correspondent’s Dinner and the shooting that occurred at the April 25 event – was Kimmel referring to Melania Trump looking like “an expectant widow.”

Now, the FCC – at the directive of the Trump administration – is conducting early license renewals for eight Disney-owned ABC stations, an action that Democratic lawmakers have pushed back on vigorously, alleging retaliation.

On May 6, on Hollywood Boulevard across the street from Kimmel’s studio, Rep. Laura Friedman (D-Burbank) led a rally against the FCC’s move.

“These licenses weren’t due until 2028 at the earliest, and some not until 2031,” Friedman said. “Connect the dots. The president demands a firing on Monday. The FCC calls on Disney to reduce to renew licenses on Tuesday. That is retaliation, and it’s a gross violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Now, Chairman Carr claims that this is about a DEI investigation, whatever that means. He says it has nothing to do with Jimmy Kimmel. But nobody believes that, because it’s one of the most ridiculous and laughable lies by this administration, and that is saying a lot.”

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park) and Rep. Lou Correa (D-Orange County), as well as several media personalities, also participated in the event.

“He’s been saying that the FCC should cancel the broadcasting licenses of networks that criticize him,” Chu said. “He thinks he gets to decide what Americans can watch, what we can listen to and who gets to speak, but we are not going to be bullied. We are not going to be silenced. This is the playbook of authoritarians, and every single one of us has a responsibility to stand up for our constitutional rights that are under attack. And this doesn’t just fall on the shoulders of workers and everyday citizens. We also need corporations and their executives to stand up to this coercion, just like Disney and ABC did when they reinstated Kimmel’s show.”

Last September, Kimmel was taken off the air for a week due to his comments on Republican responses to the murder of Charlie Kirk. His comeback show brought in 6.2 million viewers, four times the show’s average viewership.

“We’re talking about news outlets talking about us, elected officials,” Correa said. “Part of our job, part of [the media’s] job, is to report about what we do right and what maybe we don’t do right. What people can agree with us on, and what people maybe don’t like to talk about. That’s part of democracy. We have an election. [On] June 2, we have an election. [In] November, we have a very important election. You the public rely on the press for information to make informed decisions. Why does the president of the United States all of a sudden have the ability to say, ‘You can say this, you can’t say that. You can say nice things about me, but you can’t criticize me.’ I don’t have that power. These ladies do not have that power to tell the press, ‘Don’t write that story.’ And all of us as elected officials have been there. We have gotten hit with that story we don’t like. But that’s freedom of speech. As elected officials, that’s part of the job.”

As on May 6, ABC has stood by Kimmel, and no action has been taken.