Kimmel announced on Wednesday night that the show would not air the interview on TV. He cited threats from the Trump administration against his network as the reason. The show will move to YouTube instead of the ABC airwaves.
Kimmel stated that the Federal Communications Commission “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”.
He explained his choice in a direct statement. Kimmel said, “Out of consideration for our local stations, especially our ABC affiliates in Texas, who would have to deal with this nonsense, my interview tomorrow with James Talarico will not air on television”.
The interview is now scheduled to be posted on the YouTube channel for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.
This is not the first time a late-night host has faced this issue. According to NBC News, CBS avoided broadcasting Stephen Colbert’s February interview with Talarico due to apprehension regarding the FCC.
Colbert described the pressure he faced from his own network. He said, “He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast”.
CBS issued a statement at that time. The network said “the show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates”.
The “equal time” rule requires broadcast networks to give equal airtime to all candidates in an election. Kimmel noted that he has interviewed many candidates in the past with no issues.
He said, “I’ve interviewed a lot of political candidates from Hillary Clinton to Ted Cruz to Donald Trump himself”.
Kimmel recalled interviewing Donald Trump in 2015. He said, “And at that time, when he was the one sitting next to me, he seemed to have no problem with the idea of talk show hosts interviewing candidates”.
But the situation feels different now. Kimmel said, “But for some reason, and I can’t seem to figure out what that reason is, something has changed”.
The White House pushed back hard against Kimmel’s claims. A statement to the Washington Examiner on Thursday denied that the FCC is trying to intimidate ABC.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle called the comedian’s comments a performance. He said, “Jimmy Kimmel is play-acting – as he often does – to create a false narrative about this administration’s policies”.
Ingle also addressed the FCC chairman directly. He said, “Chairman Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate”.
The spokesman demanded proof from the media. He said, “Any media outlet blindly amplifying Kimmel’s egocentric delusion should insist on proof. Of which they will find none”.
Kimmel himself addressed the change in tone. He said, “Now that [Trump is] president, his FCC has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates [and] our local stations based on simple traditional editorial decisions, guest bookings, it would seem, [that] they don’t like”.
Viewers who want to see the full interview must go online. Kimmel said, “So if you want to learn about a candidate for the Senate tomorrow, you will have to go to the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube channel where you will see it in its entirety”.
He acknowledged the shift in how Americans consume news. Kimmel said, “And thank goodness we have that because in the America we live in right now, that is the best that we can do”.
The candidate, James Talarico, is a Texas state representative. NBC News reports he is engaged in a tight Senate contest against Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Neither the FCC nor the Talarico campaign promptly replied to inquiries for comment, NBC News noted. ABC Entertainment also declined to comment.
NBC News states that Trump has previously singled out Kimmel, repeatedly demanding the comedian’s dismissal.
