SBGI Press Release: Sinclair Says Kimmel Suspension is Not Enough...
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Read Press Release for Sinclair - Class A (SBGI) published on Sep. 17, 2025 - Sinclair Says Kimmel Suspension is Not Enough, Calls on FCC and ABC to Take Additional Action

Sinclair, the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group, objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

As discussed with ABC earlier today, Sinclair decided to indefinitely preempt “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” beginning tonight. Following these discussions, ABC has suspended production of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” said Vice Chairman Jason Smith. “We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities. We appreciate FCC Chairman Carr’s remarks today and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.”

Sinclair’s ABC stations will air a special in remembrance of Charlie Kirk this Friday, during Jimmy Kimmel Live’s timeslot. The special will also air across all Sinclair stations this weekend. In addition, Sinclair is offering the special to all ABC affiliates across the country.

Sinclair will not lift the suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.

Sinclair also calls upon Mr. Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family. Furthermore, we ask Mr. Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.

Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.

  • PhilipTheBucket@piefed.socialEnglish
    26·
    11 hours ago

    If free speech applies to private businesses and they are forced by the government to host all opinions then it becomes compelled speech.

    Completely agree, that would be terrible. That’s not what I am talking about.

    That is the antithesis of free speech, yet you somehow see it as, “look, Sinclair banning Kimmel is the same as Nazis being banned from Substack,” and they are actually not the same at all

    I actually went further than saying they’re “not the same,” I said they’re not even equivalent.

    Glad to hear we agree on so many things. Including among other things the horror of the FCC going around and ordering people to remove speech on this topic. If only I’d mentioned that in some way.

    • pulsewidth@lemmy.world
      2·
      6 hours ago

      Hey so I just wanna make one point about this that a lot of people aren’t going to like

      Whenever I said that Substack should be willing to host Nazi blogs, <blah> “YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THE FIRST AMENDMENT IT’S A PRIVATE BUSINESS THEY CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT IT’S NOT THE GOVERNMENT”

      The point I’m trying to make though is “it’s a private business so they can censor whoever they want” isn’t really the rhetorical slam-dunk that some people seem to feel like it should be, and this is a good situation to point to for why that’s sometimes an important principle.

      You’re wrong in the above statements. It is a slam dunk. The situation with Kimmel and the FCC and Sinclair is a counterpoint to your argument, not backing. You don’t wanna see if that way. Thats fine 🤷🏻

      • PhilipTheBucket@piefed.socialEnglish
        1·
        1 hour ago

        Let me ask you a question: The behavior of Sinclair before this happened, when they were just buying up local TV stations and corrupting them with propaganda (“this is extremely dangerous to our democracy”), was that fine? Because they’re a private company, and free speech? The government wasn’t involved in that.

        Was Apple TV cancelling Jon Stewart’s podcast because he criticized China fine? I don’t think the government told them to do that, that was just a private business doing private business things.

        I’m not asking if those things were legal, I’m asking if you think there was nothing of concern about them.