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Jon Stewart Sounds Off on Kimmel Suspension, Calls for Unafraid Late-Night
Late-night legend Jon Stewart didn’t hold back at the 26th annual New York Festival this past weekend, weighing in on the recent, albeit temporary, suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s ABC show. Stewart, 62, shared insights into how the sudden halt of Jimmy Kimmel Live! affected not just the industry, but also his own team at The Daily Show.
Kimmel’s program, temporarily pulled by ABC after comments made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk in early September, sent ripples through the late-night landscape. Stewart recounted hosting an episode of The Daily Show shortly after the incident, revealing a surprising silver lining.
“It rattled everyone to some extent, but it also presented a great opportunity,” Stewart told New Yorker editor David Remnick. “I don’t think we’ve had as much fun as we did that Thursday morning coming up with all the stupid little s— you see, including gold pictures and red ties. It gave us some purpose.”
Stewart was a vocal critic of ABC’s decision to suspend Kimmel’s show, echoing the outrage of fans and fellow celebrities. Around the time of the suspension, he passionately argued for the value of outspoken television.
“The shows that you now seek to cancel, censor, and control…a not-insignificant portion of that $8 billion value came from those damn shows,” Stewart expressed. “What made you that money are shows that say something, take a stand, are unafraid.”
He didn’t stop there, directly challenging networks and corporations: “If you believe – as corporations or as networks – that you can make yourselves so innocuous that you can serve a gruel so flavorless that you will never again be on the boy king’s radar…Why would anyone watch you? And you are f—— wrong.”
The controversy stemmed from Kimmel’s September 15th monologue, where he alleged that Donald Trump’s supporters were “desperately trying to characterize” the 22-year-old shooter who killed Charlie Kirk as “anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Days later, an ABC spokesperson confirmed that *Jimmy Kimmel Live! * would be “preempted indefinitely.”
However, a significant public backlash, including calls for boycotts and a nationwide discussion on censorship, prompted ABC’s parent company, Disney, to reverse course. *Jimmy Kimmel Live!
- made its return on September 23rd, less than a week after its suspension.
“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday (September 23),” Disney stated on September 22nd.
Upon his return, Kimmel used his opening monologue to issue an emotional apology for his remarks. “It’s important to me as a human. And that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said, visibly moved.
He continued, “I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it and I still do.
Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.”
Kimmel concluded by acknowledging the impact of his words: “But I understand that to some, that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger…
I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.”