On Wednesday night time, two dueling interviews concerning the destiny of ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel happened on Fox Information and MSNBC at 9 p.m. ET.
Fox Information’ Sean Hannity had a primetime interview with Federal Communications Fee chair Brendan Carr, whereas Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was interviewed on The Briefing with Jen Psaki.
Carr was on the Fox Information program after information broke earlier within the night that ABC could be eradicating its late night time present, Jimmy Kimmel Reside!, from its weeknight schedule for the foreseeable future.
Kimmel’s present was taken off the air after complaints by the FCC and native broadcast station teams Nexstar and Sinclair, following the late night time host’s Monday night time monologue through which he instructed that Charlie Kirk’s killer may need been a pro-Trump Republican amid uncertainty surrounding the incident.
Each Nexstar and Sinclair complained to ABC and preempted the printed from their respective night lineups. ABC finally benched Kimmel’s present “indefinitiely.”
Chatting with Hannity round 9:08 p.m. ET, Carr famous that broadcast networks and cable networks function by way of totally different units of guidelines. He mentioned that the license broadcast networks obtain comes with “a singular obligation to function within the public curiosity. And over time, the FCC walked away from implementing that public curiosity obligation.”
Relating to Nexstar and Sinclair’s announcement that they’d preempt Kimmel’s present, Carr advised Hannity that he was “glad” in regards to the positions they took, including that they had been “standing as much as serve the pursuits of their group.”
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr weighs in after ABC pulls Jimmy Kimmel off the airwaves
“Broadcasters are totally different from some other type of communication, together with right here on cable proper now. Fox Information doesn’t have an FCC license, CNN doesn’t, however ABC, CBS, and NBC—these broadcast… pic.twitter.com/RjATnjPzEC
— Sean Hannity 🇺🇸 (@seanhannity) September 18, 2025
Earlier within the day, Carr had additionally threatened to take motion in opposition to ABC, saying in an interview with podcaster Benny Johnson, “We are able to do that the straightforward method or the laborious method.”
In the meantime, on MSNBC, Pritzker’s interview began round 9:18 p.m. ET, sharing his ideas with Psaki concerning Kimmel’s present being placed on pause.
Calling the suspension and Carr’s threats “intimidation,” Pritzker went on to say that the Trump administration is utilizing its energy to “go after companies to get them to do issues that they want or need, proper, both to pay them, as we now have seen, or to fireside individuals, as we now have seen.”
Referencing the cancellation of The Late Present with Steven Colbert, Pritzker went on to say that people who find themselves vital of the current authorities are seeing the administration use its energy “to intimidate corporations to fireside individuals.”
Pressed by Psaki on what actions politicians and people who find themselves uncomfortable with these flip of occasions can undertake, Pritzker spoke in regards to the want for public motion, emphasizing that folks ought to communicate out, “boycotting, exhibiting up and protesting, and their representatives who agree with them doing the exact same.”
Pritzker: “Everyone ought to be saying that ABC ought to reverse their choice.”
— The Briefing with Jen Psaki (@briefingwithpsaki.bsky.social) September 17, 2025 at 9:34 PM
In the meantime, CNN featured Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin from Maryland on The Supply with Kaitlan Collins across the identical time as the opposite two interviews. He spoke on Kimmel’s suspension, saying the transfer undertaken represents “a really harmful second for American constitutional democracy.”
