The White House has lashed out at late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for claiming that the Federal Communications Commission “threatened” him, his show, ABC, and the network’s affiliates.
Kimmel on Thursday announced that he would not air an interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, citing pressure from the Trump administration.
The FCC “has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations, based on simple, traditional, editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like,” Kimmel said. “They’re very nervous about the midterms, and rightly so… They’re in danger of losing a Senate seat in Texas, of all places.”
But the White House is disputing Kimmel’s claim.
“Jimmy Kimmel is play-acting—as he often does—to create a false narrative about this administration’s policies,” spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast in a statement. “[FCC] Chairman [Brendan] Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate. Any media outlet blindly amplifying Kimmel’s egocentric delusion should insist on proof. Of which they will find none.”
The conflict is the latest flare-up of animosity the Trump administration has shown the late-night show.
Last September, Carr took Kimmel’s show off the air for a week amid right-wing complaints about Kimmel’s comments on the MAGA response to the killing of Charlie Kirk.
The following April, Donald Trump, 80, demanded ABC punish Kimmel, 58, for joking about first lady Melania Trump. The FCC then reviewed eight of parent company Disney’s broadcast licenses. ABC sued over this in August, alleging a First Amendment violation.
On his show Wednesday, Kimmel said Trump didn’t seem to have an issue with Kimmel’s guests when he was one a decade ago.
“And at that time, when he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of a talk-show host interviewing candidates… But for some reason–and I can’t seem to figure out what that reason is–something has changed,” he joked.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the body’s sole Democrat, said after Kimmel’s announcement that the commission was violating free speech rights.
“We are meddling in content that we should not be meddling in, and it’s a violation of the First Amendment,” she told CNN anchor Erin Burnett.
As a result, Kimmel’s interview with Talarico was instead posted on the show’s YouTube channel in full on Thursday night.
“Tonight, we are bypassing the public airwaves and hosting this interview on YouTube, even though our government would clearly prefer that we not do it at all,” Kimmel said.
Thursday’s development brings to mind another censored late-night interview of the Texas Democrat. In February, the FCC caused Talarico’s February appearance on CBS’s The Late Show to air only on YouTube as well.
The Daily Beast has contacted the FCC and Disney for comment.
