Heroes [The First Amendment & Jimmy Kimmel]: Kitiki #405
We are Better than this...the Constitution says so!
Heroes for the First Amendment: Jimmy Kimmel
Edited version of a series on the U.S. Constitution and the structure of the U.S. government.
Often we neglect to understand how heroism sometimes comes from the umbrellas that have covered us for some time, which include people we work with, aspire to be like [Jimmy Kimmel] and documents that protect individual rights. The framers of the United States Constitution added ten amendments to the documents like the Constitution that protects us.
Arguably, the First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The first part originates from the framers’ experience of religious strife in Europe. They realized that religious discord can be explosive and cause tremendous disruption in politics. It would be doubly so if one religious sect were favored over all others. So, they ensured that federal government cannot interfere in the citizens’ practice of their religion.
The freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government and seek redress of grievances proclaim that citizens have the right to hold the government accountable. Freedom of speech and press allows citizens to communicate their ideas verbally and in writing, while freedom of assembly lets them publicly express a common interest. The right to petition allows citizens to point out to the government where it did not follow the law, to seek changes, as well as damages for such missteps.
Of course, there are limits to these freedoms. Harmful speech, such as yelling “fire” in a crowded room, is not protected, nor is a written lie that causes harm. As well, gatherings must be peaceful. Destruction of the property of others is not protected by the First Amendment.[1]
James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host and comedian. In 2018, Time named him as one of the most 100 most influential people in the world, and has hosted a late-night talk show the longest of all current late-night television hosts in the United States. At 23 seasons, his tenure hosting a single late-night comedy-variety show is second only to Johnny Carson, who hosted the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 seasons.
Kimmel was born in Brooklyn, New York City. He is the eldest of the three children of Joan and James John Kimmel, who worked at American Express and was an IBM executive. He was raised Catholic and was an altar boy as a child. Kimmel’s mother is of Italian descent; her grandparents migrated to the United States from Ischia, Naples, after the 1883 earthquake. Two of his paternal great-great-grandparents were German immigrants. His family’s surname was Kümmel several generations back. He obtained Italian citizenship in 2025.
The family moved to Las Vegas when he was nine years old. He graduated from Ed W. Clark High School and attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), for one year before his family moved to Arizona. He attended Arizona State University for the 1985-86 academic year and left without graduating. He received an honorary degree from UNLV in 2013.
Kimmel initially did not want to do television; he began writing for Fox announcers and promotions and was quickly recruited to do the on-air promotions himself. In January 2003, began to host his own late-night talk show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, on ABC. In April 2007, Stuffmagazine.com named Kimmel the “biggest badass on TV.”
During a November 2022 appearance on Stitcher‘s Naked Lunch podcast, Kimmel revealed that he told ABC executives, soon after the 2016 election of Donald Trump, that if he could not tell Trump jokes, then he would leave the show. It appears the execs once spoke to Kimmel about laying off Trump, not to alienate Republican viewers. Kimmel said ABC execs were right in their apprehension, as he estimates he lost around half of his audience due to Trump jokes.
In his September 15, 2025, opening monologue, Kimmel said the assassination of Charlie Kirk that “[w]e hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
The next day, right-wing aligned media initially focused on Kimmel’s next remark, which compared Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s death to ‘a four-year-old mourning a goldfish’. According to unnamed Hollywood Reporter sources, Kimmel felt that what he said did not require an apology, and intended to defend his remark, with a source saying that it had been “grossly mischaracterized by a certain group of people”. According to The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter, Bob Iger, the chief executive of ABC’s parent company Disney, and Dana Walden, Disney’s television chief decided to suspend the show. On September 17, 2025, Anna M. Gomez, an American telecommunications attorney currently serving as a Commissioner of the FCC, appeared on CNN to defend Kimmel’s freedom of speech, arguing that his remarks criticizing MAGA were protected by the First Amendment. The suspension followed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr‘s public threat of regulatory action against ABC and its owner Disney; on September 22, Disney removed the suspension.
Over 400 creative artists signed an open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).[2] Fox News host Greg Gutfeld said he was not upset by the suspension, while his guests said, “there were limits to free speech on network TV”. Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner also expressed support for Kimmel and criticized the FCC for intimidating ABC and Disney as did several prominent Republicans including Senator Ted Cruz, head of FCC oversight. CNN reported that Disney employees and staff members received death threats following Carr’s remarks and had their email addresses and phone numbers publicized. For the company, the affair then became “bigger than Kimmel” and was “a safety issue for employees and the show’s advertisers.”
On September 22, 2025, Disney announced that after “thoughtful conversations” with Kimmel, the show would return the following day, “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.” Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns 31 of ABC’s 205 affiliate stations, and Nexstar, which owns 32, announced they would not air Kimmel’s show; Sinclair said it would air news programming instead.
Kimmel is a practicing Catholic and has spoken publicly about having narcolepsy. Kimmel married Gina Maddy in 1988; they divorced in 2002. Their daughter Katherine was born in 1991, and their son Kevin was born in 1993. Kimmel became a grandfather after his oldest daughter gave birth to a girl in May 2025. Kimmel married Molly McNearney in July 2013. They have two children a daughter [Jane] born in July 2014 and a son William “Billy” John born on April 21, 2017.
[1] U.S. Institutions - Why is the First Amendment Important?
[2] “Join the ACLU and Over 400 Artists to Defend Free Speech”. American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved September 22, 2025.