Closing the tabs …
Heard Jimmy Kimmel is returning to TV. All of his fan can rejoice.
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) September 22, 2025
Ed: Michael Eisner must be happy. Maybe a few celebs. And his cousin from Boston. Otherwise …
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Sasha Stone: I never thought they should have fired Jimmy Kimmel, especially not with the FCC breathing down their necks. It is funny, though, to have watched ten years of cancel culture purges, censorship, and a climate of fear crippling Hollywood, and not have a single one of them stand up and speak out, only to now see them acting like free speech warriors.
The sparkling celebrities, like Ben Affleck and Meryl Streep, signed a letter that they would never have signed at any time in the past ten years. ABC was losing stock value, and performers were refusing to appear on any ABC show to protest his ouster. Give us our favorite toy back!
There was a time when all of these people would be worried about what the American people thought of them. They needed them to watch their shows, pay to see their movies, and buy their music. But that’s not the case anymore. They are an insulated, isolated aristocracy, and they hate the American people. All that matters is their status inside utopia.
Ed: That’s why the rest of America has largely tuned them out. All you need to see the evidence for that are the ratings for late-night TV, awards shows, the box office, and so on.
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Raskin celebrates Kimmel’s return: “It’s great news…ABC is on the right side now.”
Wait a minute. We were told Trump personally had Kimmel fired and that was a clear indication that America had descended into fascism.
Since when is ABC allowed to make their own decisions? pic.twitter.com/39PZJ6gZmB
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 22, 2025
Ed: Since forever, except that the affiliates have a say here, too. We’ll get to that in a moment.
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Daily Wire: “Jimmy Kimmel and other late-night comedians have certainly said things about me that I found offensive, even outrageous,” Clinton said. “It never crossed my mind to call up the networks and say, ‘Hey, get rid of this guy.’ Because that’s not how America works.”
But Mackey, who ultimately served time in prison for a 2016 meme — encouraging people to “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” and “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925” — pushed back on the twice-failed presidential candidate.
“Madame Secretary: It crossed your mind to call up Sen. Klobuchar, the FBI and the DOJ and have me arrested for a humorous meme about your campaign,” Mackey posted in response to Clinton. “You then celebrated my unlawful and wrongful conviction, which was later overturned by a federal appeals court. Sit down.”
Ed: Let’s not forget that Hillary Clinton also blamed the attack on our consulate in Benghazi on a YouTuber for insulting Islam. Remember when the Obama administration kept the producer in jail for a year?
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🚨 ALERT: Just because Disney is reinstating Jimmy Kimmel does NOT mean ABC affiliates have to air his show
Nexstar and Sinclair own a combined **63** ABC stations
They do NOT have to air his show.
GET LOUD! Tell @NXSTMediaGroup and Sinclair to KEEP KIMMEL OFF AIR!
Call… pic.twitter.com/Ls4RrKYrmx
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 22, 2025
Ed: I’m not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I’d love to see Kimmel booted off the air as a market reaction to his speech. On the other hand, he’s pretty useful when it comes to keeping progressives from avoiding reality, and frankly, that probably hurts Democrats in the next election cycle. Now that he’s back on the air, it also robs them of their martyr narrative. If this all took place a year from now, it might have helped Democrats, but now it’ll be a nothingburger by the time anyone casts a ballot.
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NY Post: Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA urged ABC-TV affiliates not to carry “Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ when it returns to the airwaves Tuesday.
Andrew Kolvet, the spokesman and executive producer of what had been Kirk’s popular podcast before his assassination Sept. 10, slammed the network and parent company Disney on Monday for “caving” and allowing the embattled late-night host back. …
“Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make,” Kolvet tweeted minutes after the network revealed Kimmel would be returning.
“Nextstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice,” he said of the conglomerates that own a bunch of ABC affiliates.
Ed: Again, I’m not sure what Sinclair and Nexstar have in mind. The truth is that Kimmel’s show is dying, and that the entire genre is dying, and these affiliates might accelerate their demise at this point. ABC can air Kimmel on their owned-and-operated stations (O-and-Os), but advertisers will want big discounts if the affiliates don’t get on board. Best guess, if Kimmel doesn’t meet the demands from Sinclair: ABC returns the show to the air for a little while, then quietly drops it again when advertising disappears.
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Must be nice to be a leftist. “Cancellation” lasts 5 nights and you’re right back under klieg lights.
On the right you’re underground.— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) September 22, 2025
Ed: Yes, it certainly looks a lot different when the Protection Racket Media actually stands up for free speech.
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CNN: The Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear a rush appeal that will decide whether President Donald Trump acted lawfully as he has wrested control of independent federal agencies by firing the board members who led them.
By granting the case involving the Federal Trade Commission, the high court said it is ready to answer a question that has swirled around the second Trump administration from its first weeks: Whether it should overturn a Roosevelt-era precedent that allowed Congress to protect those independent agencies from the whims of the White House. …
In the meantime, while the case is decided, the court said that Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, who has served on the Federal Trade Commission since 2018, could be temporarily removed.
Ed: So long, Humphrey’s Estate. The apparent 6-3 emergency grant and the dismissal of Slaughter certainly sends a strong signal that the court is about to rule that the president has the authority to fire any political appointee (as opposed to civil-service employee) from any agency that exercises executive authority. Whether that extends to the Federal Reserve is more of a question mark at the moment, so Lisa Cook may still have a chance at hanging onto her job.
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Matthew Continetti at The Free Press: With those words, Erika sounded the exact note that so many Americans wanted to hear. She spoke with moral clarity and abiding faith. She offered unity. She presented an indelible image of strength: the courage that comes from facing tragedy with faith in God and the promise of eternal life. This wasn’t the same polarized and conspiratorial media din, the typical kayfabe posturing and arm-curl narcissism. Erika’s hurt, vulnerability, and loss were just as authentic as her devotion and belief.
Authenticity matters. In an age of pretense—of Instagram filters, AI scammers, political frauds, and addled experts—the ability to speak directly and without airs is rare and valuable. It conveys authority. Erika Kirk’s public appearances since Charlie’s death have been raw and truthful. They were honest revelations of her state of mind, her love, her grief, her confidence in the future. Audiences instinctively respond to truth.
That’s why Erika Kirk is now at the summit of American politics and culture. The size of the platform mattered less than the character of the messenger. Even as one laments the promise of a life cut short, never knowing what Charlie Kirk might have accomplished, one must also recognize Erika’s potential.
Ed: Erika Kirk has always seemed quietly formidable. The quiet phase came to an abrupt end. Now she will enter a very public ministry, and from all indicators, will become much more formidable than anyone would have predicted.
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So to be clear, leftists’ threats — which included actual gun violence — censored ABC stations.
That’s much worse than what Carr did, and it will garner ZERO coverage from the same insincere free speech warriors on the left that spent the last week screaming. https://t.co/jkijxxICXf
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) September 22, 2025
If we thought our job in pushing back against the Academia/media/Democrat censorship complex was over with the election, think again. This is going to be a long fight. If you’re digging these Final Word posts and want to join the conversation in the comments — and support independent platforms — why not join our VIP Membership program? Choose VIP to support Hot Air and access our premium content, VIP Gold to extend your access to all Townhall Media platforms and participate in this show, or VIP Platinum to get access to even more content and discounts on merchandise. Use the promo code FIGHT to join or to upgrade your existing membership level today, and get 60% off!
