Jimmy Kimmel’s accusation of pressure over a political interview has opened another battle with the White House. He claims the FCC leaned on his show, ABC, and affiliates over an editorial decision. The administration says that version is fiction.
White House response to Jimmy Kimmel’s accusation
Jimmy Kimmel explained Thursday why his interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico would not air. He claimed the FCC had “threatened” him, ABC, the show, and local stations over “simple, traditional” choices. Kimmel argued that the administration feared the midterms and a Senate loss in Texas.
Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson, rejected that account in a statement to The Daily Beast. He accused Kimmel of “play-acting” and creating a “false narrative.” Ingle said FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had not threatened Kimmel over Talarico or any other candidate. He urged media outlets to demand evidence, insisting “they would find none.”
The clash deepens the administration’s friction with Kimmel’s show. Carr took the program off the air for a week last September after right-wing complaints about Kimmel’s remarks on the MAGA response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination. In April, Donald Trump called for ABC to punish Kimmel over a joke about First Lady Melania Trump. The FCC later reviewed eight Disney broadcast licenses. ABC filed a lawsuit in August, citing a First Amendment violation.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the agency’s sole Democrat, criticized the situation during an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett. Gomez said the commission was “meddling in content” and called that a First Amendment violation.
Kimmel recalled Trump as a guest. On Wednesday’s broadcast, he recalled Trump sitting beside him while he interviewed candidates without a problem. Kimmel joked that “something has changed” but said he could not figure out why. The interview, however, reached viewers. The show posted Talarico’s conversation on YouTube Thursday, with Kimmel saying they were “bypassing the public airwaves.”
