John Oliver Urges Disney to Stand by Kimmel, Issues NSFW Response to 'Weak Bully' Gov't Pressure

The Last Week Tonight host, after all, has a similar job to Kimmel and Stephen Colbert, whose cancellation many are also putting at the feet of the Trump administration. If it can happen to them, could it happen to him? Well, as he explained it, the situation is a bit different as he's not on a broadcast network.

But it's not even so much his job that Oliver is so worried about. Instead, he explained on the latest episode of his HBO series -- back after a scheduled break -- he sees this as a potentially dangerous and key turning point in the trajectory of the nation.

"This Kimmel situation does feel like a turning point, and not because comedians are important but because we are not," Oliver argued in a deep dive on Kimmel's suspension. "If the government can force a network to pull a late-night show off the air and do so in plain view, it can do a f--k of a lot worse."

He then pulled an ironic tweet from FCC chairman Brendan Carr from 2023, which read, "Free speech is the counterweight -- it is the check on government control. That is why censorship is the authoritarian's dream."

This after he broke down how he and many others believe Carr used government pressure to facilitate ABC's decision about Kimmel -- and then gloated about it on social media with GIFs. And as many immediately resist comparisons to 1930s Germany and the rise of fascism, Oliver instead offered up contemporary comparisons like Hungary and Russia.

In particular, he cited that with the rise of Vladimir Putin in Russia, one particular program on an independent channel was targeted by the future president of the nation. Apparently, there was a puppet show under Boris Yeltsin that spoofed the nation's politics, and offered an unflattering puppet portrayal of Putin when his political star began to rise.

He then pulled an interview from a Russian journalist who fled the country, who reminisced on that network. "The first alarm that we should have noticed was in 2001 when NTV, the independent channel, was taken over," she recalled before footage of workers being barred at the door "unless they signed an oath of loyalty to NTV's new managers." Putin had effectively forced the sale of the company to an oligarch more loyal to his regime, Oliver noted. The puppet show did not survive.

That reporter said that protesters ultimately stopped pushing because, well, there were other independent stations. In hindsight, she feels they should have fought harder. "The lesson there is, it is not safe to let attacks on one show slide because there are currently others," Oliver argued on his show.

At the same time, he argued that it's important to remember that "Kimmel is by no means the first casualty in Trump's attacks on free speech. He's just the latest canary in coal mine, a mine that at this point now seems more dead canary than coal."

He also emphasized that while Carr was able to put pressure on affiliates and subsequently on ABC parent company Disney, the government would be extremely unlikely to win in court. He also reminded Disney that they'd already capitulated to Trump once with a $15 million settlement, and it didn't stop his administration coming after them again.

"But even the threat of an investigation or a delay in reviewing a merger can be enough to get companies to comply," Oliver said. "As one former FCC chair has said, Carr has 'been very artful in not making formal decisions that are appealable to the court … but instead having these informal, coercive activities that are not appealable.'"

Oliver broke down exactly what happened ahead of Kimmel's suspension, with Carr going on a conservative podcast and laying it out. "When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to to be some of the sickest conduct possible," Carr said. "Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there's gonna be additional work for the FCC ahead."

He then urged affiliates to tell ABC they were going to preempt Kimmel on their stations "because we the licensed broadcaster are running the possibility of fines or license revocation from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion."

Oliver then pointed out that Nexstar, which immediately did just that, putting pressure on ABC by saying they were going to stop airing Kimmel, has reason to give in to what he saw as FCC pressure amid their bid to merge with another local station owner, Tegna, which would give them an 80% market share. Right now, there is a rule that no one company can own more than 39%, which is where Nexstar sits now. Sinclair also came out and admitted they had made the same threat to preempt Kimmel in its own letter to ABC, citing Carr's podcast statements in their public statement.

"Now, I should say that Nexstar insisted that it acted 'unilaterally' and that they had no communication with the FCC or any government agency prior to making that decision," Oliver added. "But I will remind you, they didn't need to communicate directly. Carr essentially told them what he wanted to happen on a podcast. Then they unilaterally decided to do it."

Carr even went so far as to tout this as an independent push by local affiliates after ABC's decision to suspend Kimmel, but Oliver was clear that he sees this as a clear continuation of an ongoing attack on late-night television and politically-based comedy engaged by the Trump administration.

As an ironic example, he pulled a speech moment from when his show won the writing Emmy just last week, where one of his writers said on stage, "We share this category-- we are honored to share it with all writers of late-night political comedy while that is still a type of show that's allowed to exist." At that, cameras cut to Kimmel -- just days before his show would be suspended.

But that's the key point of distinction here, as Oliver sees it. Kimmel's show has not been canceled as of this writing, "so ABC and its parent company Disney still have a chance to do the right thing here."

While he acknowledged that just leaving him off the air might be the path of least resistance, he argued that it's not the right path. For one, they'd already capitulated in a settlement and it didn't keep the Trump administration off their back. And then there's the unlikelihood of the administration winning in court, with Oliver noting that this Supreme Court even had a 9-0 ruling finding that "a government official cannot coerce a private party to punish or suppress disfavored speech."

And so, Oliver says that Disney needs to "stand by Kimmel and his staff," while fans and viewers can make their own statement by canceling subscriptions to its streaming services like Disney+ and Hulu. He then wrapped his segment with a direct statement to Disney CEO Bob Iger.

"One day the history of the time we're living through is going to be written. And when it is, I'm not sure it's those in this administration who are even going to come off the worst," he argued. "Now, don't get me wrong, they're going to come off terribly, but history's also going to remember the cowards who definitely knew better but still let things happen, whether it was for money, convenience, or just comfort."

He went on to urge "risk-averse business leaders" like Iger to stand up to government pressure. "If we've learned nothing else from this administration's second term so far, and I don't think we have, it's that giving the bully your lunch money doesn't make him go away. It just makes him come back hungrier each time."

"They are never going to stop, they've literally said that openly," he continued, pointing out Trump's Truth Social post after Kimmel's suspension urging NBC to get rid of Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers next, while Carr hinted that his next target might just be The View.

"Look, at some point, you're going to have to draw a line, so I'd argue, why not draw it right here?" Oliver asked. "And when they come to you with stupid, ridiculous demands, picking fights that you know you could win in court, instead of rolling over, why not stand up and use four key words they don't tend to teach you in business school?"

"Not, 'Okay, you're the boss.' Not, 'Whatever you say goes.' But instead, the only phrase that can genuinely make a weak bully go away, and that is, 'F--k you, make me.'"