The Sirius Sentinel

What happened (today)

After remarks Jimmy Kimmel made about the killing of Charlie Kirk, FCC Chair Brendan Carr publicly warned ABC stations about potential penalties. Within hours, many ABC affiliates preempted Jimmy Kimmel Live! for “scheduling” reasons, effectively pulling the show for now. Multiple outlets report the FCC threat and the widespread preemptions. Variety, Deadline, TVTechnology, KSBW.

Context: Kimmel has also been talking about the Epstein files and related politics in recent monologues and clips, which likely adds heat to the moment. TV Insider, YouTube.

Why I’m writing

This is a classic Streisand effect setup: try to smother a podcast riff or a late-night monologue, and you often end up amplifying it. Definition & origin, WIRED explainer.

FCC policy vs. today’s move

“The public interest is best served by permitting free expression of views… Rather than suppress speech, communications law and policy seeks to encourage responsive counter-speech from others.”

— FCC Consumer Guide: “The FCC and Speech.”

That’s the agency’s own framing. Today’s saber-rattling and quick preemptions run against that spirit. (More FCC background: “The Public and Broadcasting”.)

My edited remarks (from today)

The FCC’s job is to protect a robust marketplace of ideas, not to chill it. A politically affiliated chair leaning on broadcasters over commentary he dislikes isn’t just bad optics; it brushes up against the agency’s own guidance on counter-speech and the First Amendment’s core values.

“The FCC has no authority to control what a late night TV host can say,” Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy at FIRE , said. He added that the First Amendment protects Americans’ right “to speculate on current events,” and warned that treating every mistake as a regulatory offense would chill speech across the airwaves.

Source: Variety

Kimmel’s line that “the MAGA gang is trying to characterize the shooter as anything other than one of them” is pointed, but speech, not incitement. The Supreme Court’s standard in Brandenburg v. Ohio protects even offensive or caustic political speech unless it is intended and likely to produce imminent lawless action. Brandenburg (1969).

Meanwhile, Kirk himself once said at a TPUSA Faith event:

“I think it’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.”

—Newsweek, Apr. 6, 2023

No one’s life should be a “price” for anything. Political violence is wrong—full stop. But suppressing commentary about it only invites more attention, more speculation, more heat. That’s the Streisand effect in action.

About titles, threats & consistency

Brendan Carr is the current FCC Chair. His public warning to ABC stations explicitly invoked “news distortion” rules and licensing consequences. TVTechnology, Yahoo/Variety pickup.

Separately, many ABC affiliates preempted Kimmel’s show “until further notice.” Deadline, Variety.

On late-night generally: CBS did cancel Stephen Colbert’s show earlier this year; the network framed it as a financial decision after litigation around Trump and 60 Minutes, though causation is debated. Guardian, PBS.

The politics around the tragedy

Emotions are raw. Erika Kirk’s first statement struck a defiant tone—“you have no idea what you just have unleashed”—that supporters embraced and critics read as a threat; you can judge the rhetoric yourself. Fox News, ABC News.

Vice President J.D. Vance even guest-hosted The Charlie Kirk Show yesterday—demonstrating how entwined the media-politics loop is right now. Fox News.

Where I land

• The FCC should default to more speech, not forced silence. Point stations to counter-speech and fact-checks, don’t threaten licenses.
• ABC affiliates should reinstate Kimmel and let viewers decide. Preemptions inflate controversy.
• Political violence is unacceptable, and the death penalty won’t teach a nation the “value of life.” Accountability should be firm and consistent, not vengeful.

From the President: Updated Wednesday, September 17 at 8:53 PM

“Great news for America: the ratings-challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED… Congratulations to ABC… Do it NBC!!!”

— President Donald J. Trump on Truth Social. Sources: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter

In the same post, Trump claimed Kimmel has “zero talent,” said his ratings are “worse than… Colbert,” and urged NBC to cancel Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers as “losers.” See the links above for the full text.