RON HART: Jimmy Kimmel’s Suspension Is Not About Free Speech — It’s About Ratings

Jimmy Kimmel was a lot funnier back when he was chubby.

From the Oscars to the Emmys, no one wants to be lectured to by sanctimonious celebutants like DeNiro, DeCaprio and DeGeneres or DeLateNightHosts. There is not a college DeGree among them.

Hollywood celebrities should go back to what they do best: cocaine, ecstasy and each other.

Jimmy Kimmel so hates America that he calls Trump a “fascist” and a “dictator” and has revealed plans to move to Rome, Italy. I don’t know if you’re a history buff, Jimmy, but Italy has no history of fascism?

Kimmel has become a sanctimonious host, devoid of humor and full of anger. Even the most independent viewers don’t like him now. His ratings are worse than the canceled Colbert’s.

Jimmy Kimmel was in the timeout chair for many reasons, not the least of which is that he condescendingly parrots Democrat Party talking points to a tiny leftist audience each night. Disney stocks have underperformed enough from being woke. (RELATED: Jimmy Kimmel Fails To Apologize After Being Benched Over Charlie Kirk Comments)

Somehow, liberals who did not come to Rosanne’s side (nor President Donald Trump’s when he was banned from Twitter), have become “free speech” enthusiasts. Libs are more upset about this unfunny DNC shill’s predicament than they were about the calculated left-winger’s murder of Charlie Kirk. It’s all you need to know about the state of today’s Democrat Party.

Jimmy and the left cried that he was being denied his “First Amendment Right,” which is not true. He is entitled to that, but not to a boring, money-losing, late night show in perpetuity. Find that Right in the Constitution.

I write op-ed political satire, and I identify my political leanings up front. Kimmel and the rest of broadcast media pretend to be independent, just “calling balls and strikes” as they see ‘em. We all know that is a lie. According to NewsBusters, all Kimmel’s guests this year have been left-leaning, and he has not hosted a single Republican. If this is about “free speech,” Kimmel, you are the one curtailing it.

It’s not a good look when you occupy an FCC broadcast license which, in the Communications Act of 1934, clearly states for “public interest.” With the monopoly powers given them, they “must operate their services in ways that benefit the community, promoting diversity of views and responsive, balanced programing.”

Kimmel, and quite frankly none of the broadcast stations (CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS), are nothing close to being “fair and balanced.” There should be a reckoning in the free markets, not at the Trump administration’s urging.

According to NewsBusters, Kimmel has targeted Trump in 1,128 jokes in the last year. By comparison, the last year stumbling, bumping Biden was in office, only 26 jokes were his target.

The lie the left is promulgating is that “Kimmel is being denied his free speech.” Again, he can speak all he wants in podcasts, DNC meetings, radio shows, in a column in newspapers, and public theatres and public libraries as long as he doesn’t yell “Fire!”; he just does not have the right to a show. Nor do I have a right to a column in many newspapers and outlets. (RELATED: The Jimmy Kimmel Monologue That Got Him Booted)

The left is always trying to get me canceled. I get death threats from leftist. When left-leaning Gannet bought 15 papers I was in, including my hometown paper, Corporate ceremoniously told local papers to stop my column. Gannet has all but gone under (their stock has gone from $25 to $4 in a bull market), but that is what they did. They have the right not to carry me, and investors have the right not to want to own their stock. Ditto for Disney.

Kimmel averaged only 220,000 adult 18-49 viewers, the key demographic (because they are still so naive they are swayed by advertising) according to data from Nielsen ratings. And the show is on at 11:30 at night, so their key demographic is a jobless leftist stoner who does not have to be up the next morning for his job.

In short, not a good advertising investment. I bet a Buc-ee’s billboard on I-75 or an ad in “Grit Magazine” gets more advertising views than Kimmel.

Kimmel’s ratings have plummeted every year since becoming vitriolic politically. His cancellation is about economics and what the marketplace wants, not “free speech.” Kimmel is entitled to free speech, but a failing TV show is not. The left tries to conflate the two.

Disney/ABC, which has suffered the consequence of being DEI/woke (Disney’s stock has gone from $200 to $100 in this bull market) got tired of Kimmel’s Primadonna arrogance. Which is a shame, because Kimmel was my favorite Disney princess.