Source: CNN
Sal Iacono, Jimmy Kimmel’s cousin and a long-time writer and performer on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” suggested Sunday that the show may not be coming back on the air after ABC indefinitely suspended the program last week.
On an episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast” late Sunday night, Iacono said he was reluctant to talk about the future of the show out of respect for the staff whose jobs are on the line. But he said significant news could come out this week, and he believed Kimmel will land on his feet no matter what the outcome is.
“I wish I could say anything. There are a couple bombshells still there,” Iacono said. “I’m feeling good. We’re going to be all right. Everything’s going to be just fine.”
Bill Simmons, who worked as a writer on the show two decades ago, agreed that Kimmel would find a platform if the show ended.
“He’ll be fine, whatever he wants to do,” Simmons said. “Hey listen, he might just want to be a pop-up chef and start making barbecue around the South Bay area. He’ll do a great job.”
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was abruptly and indefinitely taken off the air on Wednesday last week after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and networks of affiliate stations threatened ABC over comments Kimmel made in a monologue about the MAGA movement’s response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The show’s staff will continue to be paid for the time being, as discussions continue between Kimmel and executives at Disney, ABC’s parent company, over the show’s future.
Iacono called the past week “tumultuous,” so he said Kimmel and his family got together over the weekend. Iacono recalled that most of the family avoided discussing the elephant in the room, but his son was the first to broach the subject.
“My kids, I think they felt weird approaching him at first. And my middle guy, Jack, who is a junior in high school, breaks the ice and says in his deadpan way, says, ‘Hey, some kids at school say it’s not right what happened to you,’” Iacono recounted.
“And so Jimmy says, ‘Well, what did you say?’” Iacono said. “He’s like, ‘I said, “Yeah, I think you’re right.’”
“And Jimmy’s like, ‘Well, next time tell them, “I’m not too worried about what happens; my cousin Jimmy is an excellent dancer.”’”
Iacono acknowledged that he held more information about the show’s suspension and its future than he was able to reveal, but he was unwilling to say any more on Sunday.
“That’s all I have to say right now. I can’t really say anything,” Iacono said. “You and I know too much. It’s very emotional.”
Simmons agreed that it was a topic of conversation best laid to rest.
”We both know too much,” Simmons said. “Not only our cousin, but all the people working for the show, and, it’s better if we’re not talking about this in any way.”
“When I can, I will,” Iacono said.
On Monday and over the weekend, a number of prominent show hosts who hadn’t been on air since Kimmel was suspended offered their support.
Howard Stern, whose show broadcasts on SiriusXM Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, said he was concerned about the Trump administration’s response. He related current events to his off-and-on battles with the FCC throughout his career.
“I just know when the government begins to interfere, when the government says, ‘I’m not pleased with you, so we’re gonna orchestrate a way to silence you,’ it’s the wrong direction for our country,” Stern said Monday. “And I should know: I’ve been involved in something like this.”
Stern said he felt ABC was put in an unfortunate position, but he called on Disney’s executive leadership to take a stand in support for Kimmel and free speech. In the meantime, Stern said he was taking the limited actions he could to stand against Disney and ABC’s decision.
“Someone’s got to step up and be f***ing saying, ‘Hey, enough, we’re not gonna bow,’” Stern said. “Now it might sound stupid, but the thing I did this morning, I’m canceling my Disney+. I’m trying to say with the pocketbook that I do not support what they’re doing with Jimmy.”
John Oliver on HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” dedicated most of his Sunday show to defending Kimmel and arguing that media executives needed to stand up to the FCC in support of free speech. Oliver noted that the erosion of the free press has been a hallmark of free countries that become authoritarian.
He also noted the irony of the Kimmel getting suspended after arguing that the MAGA movement has politicized Kirk’s death.
“Kimmel didn’t denigrate Charlie Kirk or make light of his killing. The worst thing you could say is that he appears to have been wrong about the shooter’s ideology, which, okay,” Oliver said. “But he was also pointing out that many on the right seemed desperate to weaponize Kirk’s death, an argument that’s aged pretty well given, you know, everything that’s happened to Kimmel since.”
Oliver, whose show is owned by CNN parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, urged Disney to remember the $15 million settlement it made with Trump, who sued the company for defamation.
“Kimmel is just suspended, not actually canceled. So ABC and its parent company Disney still have a chance to do the right thing here,” Oliver said. “I get that the easier path for them right now is to keep him off the air and keep the administration off their back. Though I will point out that was the apparent argument for ABC paying Trump $15 million last year. And how did that work out for them?”
Bill Maher, host of HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” on Sunday, said Kimmel should not have been pulled from the air, even though he disagreed with Kimmel’s apparent characterization of Kirk’s killer as affiliated with MAGA. (It remains unclear that Kimmel was making that argument, which he never again raised or addressed.)
“Jimmy’s wrong, I think, to put him in one team,” Maher said. “I mean, Jimmy has every right to be wrong.”
Maher, whose show also shares ownership with CNN, said he supported Kimmel. Maher noted that his former show, “Politically Incorrect,” was canceled for comments Maher made and was replaced with “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
“Jimmy, I am with you. I support you. And on the bright side, you don’t have to pretend anymore that you like Disneyland.”