09 19 25 iHeartRadio reporter Rory O'Neill talks about the Jimmy Kimmel suspension

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
President Trump, suggesting the FCC could revoke licenses from networks
with hosts who are critical of him.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
When you have a network and you have evening shows
and all they do is it Trump.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
Yeah, license, they're not.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Allowed to do ABC and definitely suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live
after threats from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr over comments made
by kim all about the assassination.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Of Charlie Kirk and joining us now on the KA
comments prior health hotline. I Heart Radio national correspondent Roy
O'Neil roy, I want to start with this. Have we
heard any comment from Jimmy Kimmel. I know we've heard
from his colleagues in the late night, but as Kimmell
spoke out or send anything at this point.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
No, not yet. And you know, his contract was supposed
to end next season anyway in the spring. A lot
of speculation that you know, he might be ready to
leave the network, but also talk that you always say
that when you're negotiating.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Yeah, you definitely want to be on the plus side
of that in any situation. Oh, okay, Rory, Well, if
we didn't hear from Kimmel, have we heard some reactions
from just overall lawmakers, both sides of the aisle.

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Yeah, we have. I've seen some questions about the FCC's
involvement here. Look, had Disney and ABC just said, Jimmy,
what you said this week was reprehensible, We're suspending you indefinitely,
I don't think we'd be having this conversation. We'd all
shrug and move on. The question is did the FCC
chairman play a role in this the comments he made
it to that on that podcast, suggesting that the station groups,

(01:20):
the ownership group across the country, they should put pressure
on ABC to oust Kimmel. You know, that's a bit different.
Did the FCC have a FuMB on the scale here?
Because this also follows what happened with Stephen Colbert and
the paramount deal that also needed a regulatory approval by
the Trump administration. So again, had ABC Disney just decided

(01:42):
to punish Kimmel, fine, But how much was the administration
involved in putting his pressure on We don't really know
because when Disney announced the suspension, that's all they announced
was that Kimmel was suspended indefinitely. They didn't say why.

Speaker 2 (01:55):
And to your point, because of the deal going through
and just for people that are curious about how this work.
Licenses are publicly held by local TV stations. Next Star
and Tegner are trying to compete the complete this deal.
If this deal wasn't even going on, to your point,
it would have just probably been it would have probably
been like Killmead and what he said on Fox there,
which is in many ways way worse. But because there's

(02:18):
no deal pending, he can walk away or get away
with it more if you will, for lack of a
better term than Kimmel can well.

Speaker 3 (02:24):
And then and then you get into the rule. You know,
the FCC chair is arguing, these are the broadcast networks
where we're talking about, not the cable channels or YouTuber
or podcasts where you can say what you want. But instead,
the chair argues that because they're broadcast networks that have
a different level of responsibility to essentially not have all
this one sided programming. But you played the clip from

(02:45):
the president on Air Force one last night. That sounds
like again, it sounds like anyone who disagrees with me
should be fired.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
So what are the next steps, Rory? What's the likelihood
that Kimmel could possibly file a lawsuit? Could that be
against ABC. Could it go all the way up to
the Supreme Court? What do we think could happen next?

Speaker 3 (03:02):
All that's in the mix again if they keep on
paying his contract, not sure exactly what the punishment is there.
And don't forget Kim Well is not just late night.
He's also got who wants to be a millionaire? Sometimes
he's the host of the Oscars. You know, how much
is Disney going to cut ties with Kim? All over this?

Speaker 2 (03:18):
And then all eyes Now it sounds like Brendan Carr's
got his eyes on the view. And then of course
the other late night shows are in the sights of
President Trump. The guys on NBC, the Seth Myers and
Jimmy Fallons. Any further reporting on what could be alluded
to their.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
Yeah, just the suggestion from Trump on True Social that hey, Seth,
Hey Jimmy your next? So I mean a bit threatening there,
and let's see if there's any pushback from Congress and
how much support the president has here.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
iHeartRadio National correspondent. It's Rory O'Neil