Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension reflects cultural shifts shaped by Jon Stewart’s legacy.
Here we go again.
The wailing about ZOMG AN ATTACK ON FREE SPEECH is at peak volume („These go to eleven“) again. Much like global warming, it’s not really happening. I addressed the mundane and practical reasons for Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension in Thursday’s Morning Briefing, and in my latest „Beyond the Briefing“ video. As I wrote in the promo post for the latter, it was a routine workplace decision. Elizabeth MacDonald posted this on X about an hour after I wrote that (click and read the whole thing):
NEWS Disney’s CEO Bob Iger and co-chair Dana Walden made the decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel’s show after he planned to double down and go on camera to defend his lie that MAGA voters killed Charlie Kirk rather than „kowtow” to the outrage, Hollywood Reporter reports. They… pic.twitter.com/y96UQa8O8n— Elizabeth MacDonald (@LizMacDonaldFOX) September 19, 2025
Like I said, just business. Dem elites can’t understand that because so many of them are politicians, academics, or mainstream media lap dogs.
What I want to focus on in this column is the cultural and media journey that led to Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert becoming overweening, faux intellectual blowhards who felt that they should act like political sherpas for their incurious audiences. That story begins with Jon Stewart and his rise to prominence on The Daily Show.
Several months ago, I read an article by John Mac Ghlionn titled, „Never Forget What Jon Stewart Did To America“ over at The American Spectator, the venerable site that I wrote for before finding a home here at the Townhall Media Mothership. You get the gist of the thing from the title. Here’s the part that really stuck with me:
Even his comedy, once hailed as clever, incisive, “for the thinking man,” was always marinated in elite arrogance.
