Republican United States Senator Rand Paul has said that threats by Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr against Disney and local broadcasters for airing the programme Jimmy Kimmel Live were “absolutely inappropriate”.
US television network ABC, which is owned by Disney, suspended Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show after Carr threatened investigations and regulatory action against licensed broadcasters.
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Carr’s threat was aimed at broadcasters who aired Kimmel following the host’s comments on his September 15 show about Republicans distancing themselves from the alleged shooter in the September 10 killing of Charlie Kirk, a conservative icon and the founder of Turning Point USA.
After Kimmel made those comments on live television, owners of dozens of local TV stations affiliated with ABC said they would no longer carry his show.
Paul said on NBC’s Meet the Press programme on Sunday that Carr had “no business weighing in on this”. He said people could be fired for making inappropriate comments, but the government should not pressure companies to take action.
“The government’s got no business in it. And the FCC was wrong to weigh in. And I’ll fight any attempt by the government to get involved with speech,” Paul said.
On Friday, US Senate Commerce Committee chair Ted Cruz, a Republican, said Carr’s threat to fine broadcasters or pull their licences over the content of their shows was dangerous.
“I got to say that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas’,” Cruz said, evoking the Martin Scorsese gangster movie. “That’s right out of a Mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here. It would be a shame if something happened to it’.”
On Monday, Republican Senator Todd Young praised Cruz’s comments on the issue. “As Americans, we must cherish and protect free speech,” Young wrote on X.
Late on Friday, Republican Senator Dave McCormick said on X that he agreed with Cruz’s concerns.
“Good riddance to Jimmy Kimmel and his disgusting rhetoric. Ted also raises important concerns about the comments of the FCC chairman,” McCormick said.
Democratic leaders in Congress have called for Carr to resign and demanded an inspector general’s investigation and public hearings.
Cruz, chair of the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, said Carr’s comments were “dangerous as hell”.
Carr did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump, who appointed Carr, has cheered ABC’s decision to suspend the show and backed Carr’s comments. “He’s done nothing that’s over the line,” Trump told the Fox News programme The Sunday Briefing.
Stars also show support for Kimmel
Hundreds of Hollywood and Broadway stars – including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep – urged Americans to “fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights” in the wake of Kimmel’s suspension.
More than 430 movie, TV and stage stars, as well as comedians, directors and writers, added their names to an open letter on Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that argues it is “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation”.
“Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country,” the letter says. “We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”
The list of signatories includes newly crowned Emmy winner Noah Wyle, Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh, comedian David Cross, Tony winner Kelli O’Hara and veteran actor Molly Ringwald. Pedro Pascal, Billy Crystal, Nathan Lane, Kerry Washington and Kevin Bacon also signed.
“This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights,” the letter concludes.