Sal Iacono, Jimmy Kimmel’s cousin and a long-time author and performer on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” instructed Sunday that the present will not be coming again on the air after ABC indefinitely suspended this system final week.
On an episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast” late Sunday night time, Iacono mentioned he was reluctant to speak about the way forward for the present out of respect for the workers whose jobs are on the road. But he mentioned important information may come out this week, and he believed Kimmel will land on his toes it doesn’t matter what the end result is.
“I wish I could say anything. There are a couple bombshells still there,” Iacono mentioned. “I’m feeling good. We’re going to be all right. Everything’s going to be just fine.”
Bill Simmons, who labored as a author on the present twenty years in the past, agreed that Kimmel would discover a platform if the present ended.
“He’ll be fine, whatever he wants to do,” Simmons mentioned. “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 final week after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and networks of affiliate stations threatened ABC over feedback Kimmel made in a monologue in regards to the MAGA motion’s response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The present’s workers will proceed to be paid in the intervening time, as discussions proceed between Kimmel and executives at Disney, ABC’s dad or mum firm, over the present’s future.
Iacono known as the previous week “tumultuous,” so he mentioned Kimmel and his household obtained collectively over the weekend. Iacono recalled that a lot of the household prevented discussing the elephant within the room, however his son was the primary to broach the topic.
“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 mentioned. “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 extra details about the present’s suspension and its future than he was in a position to reveal, however he was unwilling to say any extra on Sunday.
“That’s all I have to say right now. I can’t really say anything,” Iacono mentioned. “You and I know too much. It’s very emotional.”
Simmons agreed that it was a subject of dialog finest laid to relaxation.
”We each know an excessive amount of,” Simmons mentioned. “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 mentioned.
On Monday and over the weekend, quite a lot of outstanding present hosts who hadn’t been on air since Kimmel was suspended provided their assist.
Howard Stern, whose present broadcasts on SiriusXM Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, said he was concerned in regards to the Trump administration’s response. He associated present occasions to his off-and-on battles with the FCC all through his profession.
“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 mentioned Monday. “And I should know: I’ve been involved in something like this.”
Stern mentioned he felt ABC was put in an unlucky place, however he known as on Disney’s government management to take a stand in assist for Kimmel and free speech. In the meantime, Stern mentioned he was taking the restricted actions he may to face towards Disney and ABC’s resolution.
“Someone’s got to step up and be f***ing saying, ‘Hey, enough, we’re not gonna bow,’” Stern mentioned. “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” devoted most of his Sunday present to defending Kimmel and arguing that media executives wanted to face as much as the FCC in assist of free speech. Oliver famous that the erosion of the free press has been an indicator of free international locations that change into authoritarian.
He additionally famous the irony of the Kimmel getting suspended after arguing that the MAGA motion has politicized Kirk’s loss of life.
“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 mentioned. “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 present is owned by CNN dad or mum firm Warner Bros. Discovery, urged Disney to recollect the $15 million settlement it made with Trump, who sued the corporate 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 mentioned. “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, mentioned Kimmel mustn’t have been pulled from the air, regardless that he disagreed with Kimmel’s obvious characterization of Kirk’s killer as affiliated with MAGA. (It stays unclear that Kimmel was making that argument, which he by no means once more raised or addressed.)
“Jimmy’s wrong, I think, to put him in one team,” Maher mentioned. “I mean, Jimmy has every right to be wrong.”
Maher, whose present additionally shares possession with CNN, mentioned he supported Kimmel. Maher famous that his former present, “Politically Incorrect,” was canceled for feedback Maher made and was changed 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.”