Jimmy Kimmel suspended: Are Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers next?
With late-night host Stephen Colbert canceled and Jimmy Kimmel suspended, Donald Trump has his sights set on Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers as the president increases pressure on media organizations to align with his worldview.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended “indefinitely” after its host angered Trump’s MAGA base by suggesting during his monologue on Monday, September 15th, that Tyler Robinson, the alleged killer of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, was one of their own.
Kimmel also said that the Republicans were doing “everything they can to score political points” from Kirk’s killing, which prompted a strong reaction from Trump supporters and officials.
However, ABC only moved to suspend the show after Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed head of the US media regulator, the Federal Communications Commission of the United States (FCC), threatened the broadcaster’s license if it did not take action.
It took mere hours after Carr’s comments for Nexstar Media Group, which operates ABC, to announce it was pulling Kimmel’s show and describing his remarks about Kirk’s death as “offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse.”
Trump welcomed the decision in a post on his social media network Truth Social, calling it “great news for America,” and congratulating ABC “for finally having the courage to do what had to be done.”
“Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on FAKE News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!” Trump wrote.
Other conservative figures celebrated the move, with journalist Megyn Kelly warning in a post on X that “what the Left doesn’t seem to understand and needs to hear is that MAGA has f&cking HAD IT.”
I’m not sure who needs to hear this but Jimmy Kimmel got on the air and falsely stated as a fact that Charlie Kirk’s killer was MAGA, smearing an entire movement and Trump in particular with a vile disgusting lie - and at a time when the threat against those on the right is at an…
undefined Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) September 18, 2025
For Democrats, Kimmel’s suspension appears to have confirmed their worst fears about deteriorating free speech in America.
“Buying and controlling media platforms. Firing commentators. Canceling shows. These aren’t coincidences. It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous,” said California Governor Gavin Newsom.
“The GOP does not believe in free speech. They are censoring you in real time,” he said.
Buying and controlling media platforms.
undefined Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) September 17, 2025
Firing commentators.
Canceling shows.
These aren’t coincidences.
It’s coordinated. And it’s dangerous.
The @GOP does not believe in free speech.
They are censoring you in real time.
Can the president’s ire get people fired?
The president will see the move to suspend Kimmel as a personal win in his vendetta against the late-night hosts criticizing him. He correctly predicted that “Kimmel is next” after CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert earlier this year.
While CBS said it was a “purely financial decision,” critics said it was political as the broadcaster’s parent company, Paramount, was seeking approval from the FCC for a merger with Skydance Media.
Trump’s administration has the tools to target Fallon and Meyers next. The president has already said that NBC, which airs both The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers, should have its license revoked.
Under the leadership of Trump ally Carr, the FCC – which used to operate with a degree of independence – now firmly follows the president’s agenda. The agency has launched formal reviews of almost all major US broadcasters, including NBC. Probes were also opened against ABC, CBS, NPR, and PBS.
Immediately after his post about Kimmel, Trump followed up with another message on Truth Social, announcing he would designate Antifa a terrorist organization, calling the loose anti-fascist movement “A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER.”
The problem with this announcement is that Antifa is not a single entity but rather an umbrella term used to describe various far-left activist groups, so it is unclear who or what would be targeted.
“This is just one of many actions the president will take to address left-wing organizations that fuel political violence,” a White House official told CNN.
Trump and his supporters have long attacked critics as left-wing regardless of their actual political convictions, leaving open a possibility that the move could be used as a pretext to suppress dissenting views and persecute political opponents.
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This leaves Fallon, Meyers, and indeed anyone critical of Trump and his MAGA movement, vulnerable. The White House said the suspension of Kimmel’s show was an example of “consequence culture,” but that does not appear to extend to conservative media voices.
The only consequence Fox News host Brian Kilmeade faced for saying on air that mentally ill homeless people should be executed was an apology he issued days later for his “extremely callous” remarks.
Meanwhile, a number of people across the US, including teachers, firefighters, and military personnel, have been fired or disciplined over the past week for posting their opinions about Kirk’s shooting online as authorities clamp down on critical commentary.
