What's at stake:
After Fresno joins national protests outside ABC studios, Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel’s show will resume airing on Tuesday.
More than 30 people peacefully protested outside the ABC 30 building in Fresno on Monday morning denouncing ABC, and its corporate parent Disney, for pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the air and chanting “shame on ABC” and “collaborators.”
Over the last few days, protests also took place in cities across the country, including San Francisco and Los Angeles.
On Monday afternoon, Politico reported that Disney announced “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will resume airing on Tuesday, following several days of “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy.” Disney has reportedly lost over $3.87 billion as Kimmel’s suspension sparked boycotts, affiliate blackouts, and backlash over his comments on Kirk.
In his opening monologue on Sept. 15, Kimmel, a longtime vocal critic of President Donald Trump, accused “the MAGA gang” of trying to “score political points” over the assassination of Christian nationalist Charlie Kirk at a Utah college event, saying they rushed to blame the left before much was known about the shooter’s motives.
ABC’s decision added fuel to an ongoing free speech debate, with some on the left claiming that people on the right were engaging in the “cancel culture” they once said they loathed. Others on the right sought to dub Kimmel’s removal as “consequence culture.”
Patty Cappelluti, co-leader of Central Valley Indivisible (CVI), said she helped organize Monday’s protest out of concern over government overreach, emphasizing that while ABC has the right to its programming, the government should not pressure media companies to control what airs on TV.
In an afternoon interview with Fresnoland, a surprised Cappelluti said she was “so happy that the protest worked.”
She credited the news to people canceling their Disney+ subscriptions and said other companies, like Target, are also “feeling the economic pressure” from boycotts. She feels “cautiously optimistic” about how ABC and Disney will move forward with protecting free speech and resisting political pressure.
Many protesters echoed similar concerns, including Fresno State professor Katherine Shurik, who said it’s important for reporters and talk show hosts like Kimmel to report the facts and maintain a platform to do so.
“We must preserve our freedom of speech,” said Shurik. “This shows that Trump wants to overturn basic rights that are laid out in the Constitution.”
Mike Dalena, who’s on the leadership team with CVI, said the attempt to silence Kimmel evokes memories from his high school years in the 80’s, when his father—who had fought in World War II—hosted a woman from the Soviet Union at their home. When Dalena was watching TV, she came downstairs and explained how the Russian government at the time controlled information, censored the truth, and spread propaganda to oppress its citizens.
Now, Dalena said, witnessing similar tactics in the U.S. feels “super disturbing,” adding that “America is now a fascist state.”
“Its such a waste of resources for America to slide in the opposite of what we stand for,” said Dalena. “It’s embarrassing and shameful that other Americans think this is OK. We need to uphold our ideals in the Constitution.”
In an afternoon interview with Fresnoland, Dalena said he is “unconvinced” by the news of Kimmel’s show returning on Tuesday. He is eager to see what Kimmel says and hopes that “he doesn’t offer an apology because he didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I don’t see this as a resolution,” said Dalena. “I see this as a development and an ongoing fight for freedom of speech and we’ll see what further action Disney takes, because right now it’s in Disney’s hands.”
ABC’s decision to suspend Kimmel’s show came following fiery criticism from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, an appointee of Trump, and backlash from Nexstar, which operates several ABC affiliate networks and, as such, airs Kimmel’s show.
Carr accused Kimmel of “the sickest conduct possible” and said firms like the Disney-owned ABC could “find ways to change conduct and take action…or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC.” In the past, Carr has publicly defended free speech on social media.
Trump posted on Truth Social in response to the news about the show, calling it “great news for America.”
“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” the post wrote. “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 has also long been at odds with Kimmel and other late night hosts, calling for their dismissals.
The Trump administration is threatening to target the ‘radical left,’ while Republicans have targeted the jobs of professionals in various fields who have shared their opinions about Kirk on social media.
This includes a Fresno State professor who was placed on leave after an audio clip from a lecture circulated on social media in which they said, “It’s too bad he’s not dead,” reacting to news that Kirk had been shot. Visalia’s College of Sequoias fired one of its instructors last week after students say he wished death upon Kirk’s family in the wake of his assassination.
Over the weekend, NBC News reported that “no evidence” has been found of ties between Kirk’s shooting and left-wing groups. Tyler Robinson, who has been formally charged with aggravated murder of Kirk, comes from a conservative family. Little is known about Robinson’s own politics. State voter records list him as “unaffiliated,” while both of his parents are registered Republicans.
Robinson confessed to the killing to his trans partner, with whom he lived, and the bullet casings from the gun were engraved with niche references and internet slang — but were not references to “transgender and antifascist ideology,” as falsely reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Recently, the U.S. Justice Department has scrubbed a study from its website with statistical evidence that a majority of acts of political violence in the United States are perpetrated by right-wing extremists. The report is now archived.
Against this backdrop, Kirk’s death and his long-standing opposition to trans rights, has only added fuel to the fight.
The days following Kirk’s murder, public comments from high-profile conservatives, such as Donald Trump Jr. who said on a Youtube show that trans people are the most violent group passed “Al-Qaeda” and “the Taliban.”
Many others, such as Elon Musk and Laura Loomer, have said that trans people are terrorists on social media.
According to a Sept. 18 report by journalist Ken Klippenstein, two anonymous national security officials said the Bureau is considering classifying trans people under its new “Nihilistic Violent Extremists” category, following the death of Kirk.
Fresno protesters say that they will continue advocating for free speech, with many planning to attend the Oct. 18 ‘No Kings Day’ protest.
