Jimmy Kimmel blasts FCC rule change, calls it ‘latest attack on free speech'

Jimmy Kimmel once again took aim at the Federal Communications Commission.

The late-night host used his Jimmy Kimmel Live! monologue Thursday January 22 to blast FCC chair Brendan Carr after new guidance was issued that could force talk shows to give equal airtime to political candidates on both sides of the aisle.

Kimmel accused Carr of trying to silence dissenting voices.

“[Carr] is doing everything he can to shut us up, the easy way or the hard way,” Kimmel told viewers, calling the move “his latest attack on free speech.”

The FCC’s new policy argues that late-night programs and daytime talk shows should no longer be considered “bona fide” news programs, stripping them of exemptions from the equal time rule.

That rule, dating back to the Radio Act of 1927, requires broadcasters to offer equal airtime to all candidates if one is featured.

Kimmel explained that exemptions for news programs were added in 1959 later extending to talk shows.

He noted that past rulings including a 2006 case involving Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appearance on The Tonight Show upheld talk shows as exempt.

“That’s how every talk show has operated since then,” he said.

Kimmel argued that the FCC’s reinterpretation doesn’t make sense in today’s media environment.

“It’s a joke because this isn’t the ’50s anymore. Back then there were only three major networks. Now we’ve got cable, streaming, satellite, podcasts, social media. There are thousands of outlets now,” he said.

He also pointed out that conservative broadcasters including Fox News and Newsmax aren’t subject to the same scrutiny because they don’t use public airwaves.

“None of them are required to give equal time, but we are because we use the public airways,” he said.

This isn’t Kimmel’s first conflict with Carr.

In September after Carr encouraged ABC affiliates to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! the show was suspended nationwide for six days before Disney reinstated it.

Kimmel admitted he doesn’t know how the new guidelines will affect late-night shows moving forward.

“I have no idea what the outcome of this is going to be,” he said. “But it’s another example of this administration trying to squash anyone who doesn’t support them by following ‘the rules.’”