U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed the suspension of talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel and suggested broadcasters should lose licenses over negative coverage, intensifying a national debate on free speech and government pressure.
ABC suspended late-night host Jimmy Kimmel following conservative uproar over his remarks about assassinated activist Charlie Kirk. The move drew swift criticism from writers, performers, and former U.S. President Barack Obama, who called it capitulation to government coercion. About 150 protesters gathered outside Kimmel’s Hollywood studio on Thursday (18 September), holding signs and denouncing Disney’s decision.
Trump’s remarks in London
Speaking alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump labelled Kimmel “untalented” and attacked him for comments on Kirk. Later, onboard Air Force One, Trump said TV stations should have their licenses reviewed, accusing broadcasters of giving him only negative publicity.
FCC and political pressure
Kimmel’s suspension came after FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened to investigate his commentary. Owners of local TV affiliates, including Nexstar and Sinclair, signalled they would stop airing his show. Federal law bars the FCC from revoking licenses based on unfavourable coverage, but critics say Trump’s repeated threats undermine constitutional protections.
Broader debate
Kirk’s murder has polarised U.S. opinion. Trump allies have demanded critics show respect for Kirk, while opponents argue the administration is weaponising regulation to silence dissent. Obama, unions, and the ACLU said the suspension represented an assault on First Amendment rights. Protesters in Hollywood warned the country was “going in a really wrong direction” if satire and criticism are punished.
Peace is Armenia’s only reliable guarantee of security, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has said in comments in Dublin, where he also...
Hungarian authorities have recovered nearly $20 million in cash hidden in buildings and buried in forests as part of a bribery investigation into M...
U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to hold a historic trilateral meeting in She...
Iran’s Assembly of Experts has backed withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and overhauling the country’s defence doctrine, calling both steps essential to national security and deterrence.
President Vladimir Putin agreed on Thursday to let European representatives join the next round of Ukraine peace talks while the United States continues to work towards what could become the largest prisoner exchange of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Microsoft struggled to restore its services on Friday after a major outage disrupted Outlook, Teams and Copilot across the United States and Asia-Pacific region.
Here's your AnewZ Technology Daily Brief for the 13th of November. This week, a Microsoft outage hit Australian agencies, Google restricted mapping data in South Korea, a lawsuit targeted advanced AI development, and Nvidia faced a leadership crisis after Jensen Huang's resignation.
Kazakhstan-linked hackers stole thousands of national security documents from Tajikistan, a cybersecurity company has said.
Hungarian authorities have recovered nearly $20 million in cash hidden in buildings and buried in forests as part of a bribery investigation into Miklós Seszták, a former minister under ex-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are set to hold a historic trilateral meeting in Shenzhen on 19 November. The White House says the talks will focus on nuclear arms reductions, with Iran also on the agenda.
U.S. negotiators floated the idea of Ukraine withdrawing from the eastern Donbas region in exchange for NATO membership, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.
China is taking its space technology ambitions beyond its borders, with a major deal to build a network of 20 artificial intelligence-powered satellites for Oman.
Europe will send a team of diplomats to Ukraine peace talks rather than a single envoy, EU leaders agreed on Friday at the end of a summit in Dublin.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment