Kimmel SUSPENDED After Terrible Charlie Kirk Assassination Take

Remembering Charlie Kirk

Ben Shapiro opens the show by emphasizing the importance of honoring Charlie Kirk's legacy beyond the tragedy of his murder. He highlights the efforts of several prominent figures who stepped in to host Kirk's show following his death, including Glenn Beck and former Vice President Mike Pence, underscoring how deeply Charlie was respected throughout the conservative movement. Beck's symbolic gesture of bringing Rush Limbaugh's Excellence in Broadcasting microphone to be placed in front of Kirk's desk is cited as a poignant tribute, symbolizing a passing of the torch.

Shapiro stresses that Kirk should be remembered primarily as a skilled debater, a devoted family man, and a titan of conservative activism rather than for the political skirmishes or the brutal final moments. He condemns the vile celebrations of Kirk's death by fringe elements on the left, noting that civil society must impose consequences on such obscene speech. However, Shapiro carefully differentiates between societal sanctions for abhorrent speech and government censorship, reinforcing the need to protect free speech while acknowledging consequences for wrongful conduct.

The Nuance of Cancel Culture and Civil Society

Shapiro critiques the over-simplified narrative around cancel culture, describing its "low pixelation" version—the idea that no speech should ever carry consequences—as morally naïve and practically absurd. He acknowledges that civil society has the right to express disapproval and that employers or institutions may rightly sever ties with those who espouse hateful sentiments or celebrate violence. He points to real cases such as the firing of conservative employees at major tech firms for what were considered "cancelable offenses."

Yet, he firmly draws a line when it comes to government involvement. The federal government should not be mandating silencing or punishing speech in the private sector, warning that state intervention in such matters is a path fraught with peril, prone to misuse whichever party holds power. Shapiro references legal battles from the Biden administration's attempts to coerce social media companies to moderate certain content, which raised severe First Amendment concerns and were ultimately avoided by the Supreme Court rather than decisively resolved.

Jimmy Kimmel's Suspension

The focal point of the episode revolves around Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show being suspended indefinitely by ABC following his offensive commentary about Charlie Kirk's assassination. Shapiro expresses no empathy for Kimmel, whom he calls a "schmuck" with a long history of offensive behavior, from crude early comedy skits to recent incendiary remarks about ivermectin use and hospital care rationing during COVID-19. Kimmel's monologue claiming the shooter was a "MAGA Republican," despite clear evidence to the contrary, is identified as the immediate cause of his suspension.

However, Shapiro's concern lies in the manner of Kimmel's removal from the airwaves. Rather than a purely organic market or public response, the move appears influenced by the involvement of the Federal Communications Commission's Chairman, Brendan Carr, whose office publicly threatened repercussions against ABC and its affiliates over the broadcast content. Major station groups such as NextStar cited community standards and public interest as reasons for preempting Kimmel's program, but these decisions followed closely on the heels of FCC statements signaling regulatory action.

Shapiro concedes that Kimmel's removal in itself is not unjustified—his sustained record of poor conduct justifies social and commercial sanction. Nevertheless, he warns that FCC involvement muddies the waters by introducing government regulatory pressure into what should be market-based or social accountability processes. Shapiro cautions that if the government begins removing broadcast licenses based on content deemed "informationally false," this power will inevitably be weaponized against political opponents when power shifts, eroding free speech and press independence.

Media Bias

The episode delves into the dangerous precedent set by the FCC's attempted intervention. While currently under conservative leadership, Shapiro warns that future administrations could use the same tools to silence conservative voices, using the powers of broadcast licensing coercively. He advocates strongly for deregulation in the broadcast realm, arguing that modern digital and cable landscapes make traditional licensing obsolete and vulnerable to abuse.

Shapiro points to the double standards evidenced by the media's treatment of other hosts like Stephen Colbert, who was also criticized but ultimately lost his show for commercial reasons rather than political pressure. The narrative now being pushed by the left, he asserts, is one of perceived authoritarian overreach by conservatives, attempting to frame all regulatory pushback as suppression of free speech—he warns conservatives to be wary of this dangerous rhetorical construction.

The Shooter's Background

Shapiro provides new disturbing details about the shooter's identity, highlighting his unusual personal life and online activity, including involvement with "furry" subcultures and disturbing potential exposure to inappropriate material. He argues that the shooter's motivations were deeply tied to leftist ideology and resentment born from his identity as a gay man involved in trans and furry communities, who viewed Charlie Kirk's views—particularly his assertion that "men are not women"—as hateful.

Shapiro criticizes attempts on the left to portray the shooter as apolitical or to blame Kirk himself for the violence, citing journalist Tanahasi Coates as a figure who, in Shapiro's view, grants tacit permission for political violence through inflammatory rhetoric. He asserts that many on the left refuse to acknowledge the shooter's far-left motivations and instead shift blame onto the conservative victim, which he denounces as an abdication of responsibility and a dangerous permission structure for future violence.

Political Violence

The discussion broadens to include wider national conversations on political violence. Shapiro contrasts figures like Tanahasi Coates and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, whose statements he characterizes as either dismissive or misdirected in identifying perpetrators of violence, with more measured observers like Ezra Klein, who condemned the shooting and recognized Kirk as a contributor to "normie" political discourse rather than an extremist.

Former President Barack Obama also enters the discourse, with Shapiro critiquing Obama's framing of the current political environment as an "inflection point" for violence. Shapiro argues that Obama's record is not one of neutrality but one that stoked division and failed to properly condemn left-wing violence, thereby contributing to the current climate. He contrasts Obama's rhetoric with President Trump's recent designation of Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization and highlights official efforts to counter left-wing violence and address partisan political "debanking," where financial services are denied on ideological grounds.

Final Thoughts on Free Speech

Throughout the episode, Shapiro reiterates his core thesis that political disagreement must be confronted with debate, not censorship or government interference. He champions civil society's right to impose consequences for repugnant speech without government intervention that risks a slippery slope of escalating state control over the media and public discourse. Shapiro warns that the fragile balance protecting free expression in a deeply divided nation depends on resisting overreach by regulatory bodies such as the FCC, despite legitimate public pressures to sanction bad actors like Jimmy Kimmel.

The podcast closes with a call for clarity in condemning political violence coupled with vigilance against authoritarian impulses disguised as "public interest" regulation. Shapiro mourns Charlie Kirk not only as a personal loss but also as a symbol of the ongoing battle for free speech, honest political debate, and the integrity of American media and political culture.