Jimmy Kimmel Live! was suspended by ABC for a comment Kimmel made about President Donald Trump’s lack of compassion regarding Charlie Kirk’s death. It was reinstated on Sept. 23 after Disney, the owner of ABC, lost 1.7 million viewers in a week, due to people cancelling their streaming services.

Kimmel is the second late night host to be silenced, but what, or who, is the cause of the cancellation and is it a violation of free speech?

The answer can be found in the cancellation of Steven Colbert’s show last July. 

Colbert’s show was not renewed by Paramount due to “purely financial reasons.” However, during July, Paramount paid $16 million dollars to Trump for airing a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris. Trump claimed that it gave Kamala Harris more campaign time than him in efforts to push a democratic agenda.

The timing of Colbert’s cancellation and Trump’s lawsuit had many people wondering if the two were correlated. Trump’s public reaction to Colbert’s cancelation did nothing to disprove those rumors.

Trump is no stranger celebrating the death of late night television. Trump expressed his thoughts in a Truth Social post.

“I absolutely love that Colbert’ got fired,” Trump wrote. “His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert!” 

According to latenighter.com, The Late Show with Steven Colbert had a total of 2.84 million viewers over the span of 31 episodes, making it the top rated late night show. Colbert is followed by Jimmy Kimmel Live!, then The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with 1.85 million and 1.23 million viewers respectively. Seth Meyer’s show has 923,000 total viewers on his show, Late Night With Seth Meyers. 

Not only was his post an accurate prediction, it was a threat to late night hosts across the country.

Clearly ratings are not the problem, the common denominator in all these shows is that they have spoken out against Trump.

Since then, Trump posted on his Truth Social who he intends to go after next.

“That leaves Jimmy [Fallon] and Seth [Meyers], two total losers, on Fake News NBC,” Trump wrote. “Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

Lionel Hornby, a freshman at Del Val, disagreed with ABC’s choice to remove the show. 

“If one host had been canceled for saying something that went against the current republican/MAGA beliefs, that would be a red flag,” Hornby said. “But when it happens twice because of commentary against the president’s beliefs; that’s censorship, plain and simple.”

Censorship is bad, but it’s even worse when it comes from someone with such high power.

“The thought that a President can bend the FCC to his will is terrifying,” Hornby said. “Especially when that is used to create a genuine fear of broadcast licenses being revoked. When combined with Trump’s social media presence, any post about expressing distaste over a show host can realistically be ‘Remove this person or I remove you from the air.’ And nobody is stopping this.”

To understand the significance of Trump’s actions and how they affects every single American, the First Amendment is needed for further context.

“The entirety of the amendment is Freedom of Expression,” Supervisor of Social Studies & World Languages James Kluska said. “The government cannot keep you from practicing any religion – or force you to follow a certain religion, stop you from gathering peacefully with others, stop you from asking the government to fix problems, stop the press, like newspapers or news websites, from reporting what they want and stop you from speaking your mind.”

The First Amendment is important to every American because it grants freedom of speech.

The cancellation of late night hosts affects every single American because if Trump can cancel their protection of free speech, it means he can cancel any Americans’ free speech.

“Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue that the FCC Chair went after ABC for, it was entirely protected,” Mike Hiestand, a lawyer for the Student Press Law Center, said. “There was nothing in it that was even close to being unlawful or not protected. The FCC Chair’s threats were completely off the rails and [it] would be unconstitutional as we’ve traditionally interpreted the First Amendment.”

The First Amendment rights provide rights many Americans take for granted.

“These rights are so important because they protect the way we live, think, and express ourselves as individuals,” Kluska said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to speak our minds, stand up for what we believe in, practice our faith, or hold our government accountable. They give people the power to question, to create change, and to be themselves without fear of punishment. These freedoms are the foundation of a healthy democracy and a fair society. Without them, the voices of the people would be silenced — and history shows us how dangerous that can be.”

With that being said, freedom of speech is not freedom of consequences.

“One common misunderstanding people have about the First Amendment is that it protects you from all consequences when you say something,” Kluska said. “But that’s not exactly true. The First Amendment protects you from government punishment, not from the consequences of your speech in private settings (slander or libel) — like school rules, jobs, or social situations.”

If we want our opinions heard, we also must make room for disagreeing voices.

“Another thing I think more people should understand is that the First Amendment protects everyone’s rights — not just the voices we agree with,” Kluska said. “That includes unpopular opinions. Respecting free speech means allowing different perspectives, even when we strongly disagree with them.  We protect the First Amendment by understanding it and educating others — because when we know our rights, we’re more likely to defend them. We all must know that with each of our freedoms and rights, goes responsibilities and limitations.”

Kluska explained how citizens can protect themselves from losing such important rights.

“As students, you can protect the First Amendment by using your rights responsibly and respectfully,” Kluska said. “That means speaking up when you see injustice, standing up for others’ rights even if you don’t agree with their views, and learning about how these freedoms work. You can also get involved in student government, clubs, organizations, write a letter to the editor or your government representatives, or peaceful protests to show that we care about these rights.”

When asked about the cancellation of late night hosts, Del Val students had a variety of opinions

“It’s bad because now they don’t have any jobs,” Abby Walker, a freshman, said. “Now they can’t make money and provide for their families.”

When a show is cancelled, the host is not the only one who is affected: writers, camera operators, sound engineers and many other people lose jobs.

“I think the cancellation of late night show hosts is a breach of the first amendment, and should be illegal,” Ryan Thomsen, a junior, said. “No one should be silenced for stating their opinions and views. If someone in a position of power in the government does it, that’s even worse, because now, they are abusing their power.”

Freedoms of speech has always been challenged since it was its inception. In humor and in comedy, freedom of speech has always been questioned.

“In a nutshell, as long as everyone understands that the material is a joke and not intended to be taken as fact, the First Amendment gives comedians significant leeway to say what they say,” Hiestand said.

Kimmel’s show marketed as a comedy. Jimmy Kimmel, above all else, is a comedian. Kimmel has been marketed as a comedian since his show began to air in 2003.

The cancellation of late night shows is the beginning of a war on free speech. If the president begins to revoke licenses for people arguing viewpoints he doesn’t agree with, we have already lost. As Americans, we should be afraid for our First Amendment rights, but we cannot let that fear paralyze us.

Thomsen summarizes the reaction to this issue in four words: “We revolted for less.”