OPINION:
ABC has yanked “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from its late-night lineup — “indefinitely,” no less — after the talk show host spread false statements about the political leanings of the man accused of killing Charlie Kirk, making it seem that MAGA, not leftist lunacy, was at the heart of the shooter’s motivations. And now Hollywood’s in an uproar. Now unions are in an uproar. Now Democrats are in an uproar. They’re crying free speech! — freedom of speech!
But thing is, free speech doesn’t mean free from accountability.
For Democrats, the time has come in America where they’re learning a lesson that is taught to toddlers — that is supposed to be taught during the toddler years — and that is simply: There are consequences for actions.
And privately owned corporations aren’t held to the same standards of First Amendment freedoms as public entities. The amendment starts, “Congress shall make no law —“ and from there, a wide variety of court cases have granted speech to some and yet limited speech to others.
And boy, didn’t Democrats love the limits that were placed on conservatives and MAGAs and Christians and the questioning minds of the COVID years when it came to social media posts? Those were the good ol’ Twitter days of Jack Dorsey, before Elon Musk came along and ruined the left’s stifling of speech party. Those were the good ol’ days before President Trump’s social media platform Truth Social took off like a rocket. Those were the good ol’ days of Democrat controls in the White House, before Trump won another term and Facebook and Google execs were forced to come and grovel at his Team MAGA’s feet and pretend they never intended to boot off conservative voices from their platforms and promise to never, no never, do such targeted attacks again. It’s the A.I., they claimed.
Here’s what Kimmel said: “The MAGA gang [is] desperately trying to characterize this kid [Tyler Robinson] who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
That — after it had been revealed that texts and messages to his transgender live-in love, meanwhile, Robinson had written, “I had enough of his hatred” and “Some hate can’t be negotiated out” and “I had the opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and I’m going to take it.”
So Disney pulled Kimmel’s show.
Disney made a managerial decision to yank Kimmel from the air.
The fact that the Federal Communications Commission threatened to “take action” against Disney and ABC over Kimmel’s comments no doubt spurred the pulling of the show. But whatever the reason, the company did what it did — and moreover, the company had the right to do what it did.
But the left can’t stand accountability.
“Hollywood stars, unions erupt with outrage after ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel off air,” NBC News wrote.
“The @GOP does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X.
“Top House Dems demand FCC chair resign over Jimmy Kimmel suspension,” Axios wrote.
“Democratic Leaders Blast Media Companies For ‘Act of Cowardice’ In Pulling Jimmy Kimmel, Call For FCC Chair To Resign: ‘This Will Not Be Forgotten,’” Deadline wrote.
And it probably won’t go unanswered by Democrats.
As soon as Dems gain back political power, they’ll be at their anti-conservative, anti-MAGA, anti-America, anti-Christian assaults once again. But it’ll be a while before they win back power.
In the meantime, they’re facing a hard life lesson they should’ve learned during their maturing years, but didn’t: that yes, in America, you can say pretty much what you want. But that doesn’t mean you should.
Personal accountability is also a facet of American life and an integral part of keeping the country free.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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