{
  "id": 4,
  "slug": "2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension",
  "title": "FCC chair's remarks precede ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel",
  "occurred_on": "2025-09-17",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "country": "US",
  "continent": "north-america",
  "level": "national",
  "type": "regulatory_pressure",
  "tactic_primary": "funding_and_ownership_pressure",
  "leader_slug": "donald-trump",
  "issue_of_the_day": null,
  "outcome": "unknown",
  "outcome_on": null,
  "outcome_note": null,
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggested broadcasters could face regulatory consequences over Jimmy Kimmel's on-air remarks; ABC suspended Kimmel's show the same day, followed within hours by affiliate groups Nexstar and Sinclair.{c:96}",
  "what_happened": "On September 17, 2025, FCC Chair Brendan Carr made public remarks widely reported as directed at broadcasters carrying Jimmy Kimmel Live! after Kimmel's comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk, saying regulators could take action against station licenses. Within hours, ABC announced it would pull the show indefinitely, and affiliate groups Nexstar and Sinclair separately said they would preempt it on their owned stations. Press-freedom and free-speech commentators, including some FCC commissioners, characterized Carr's remarks as government pressure on a broadcaster's editorial decisions rather than routine license oversight, noting that the FCC does not ordinarily comment on the content of a specific late-night program. The episode was widely cited afterward as an example of a regulator using licensing authority as leverage over program content rather than enforcing a specific rule violation.{c:8}{c:96}{c:97}{c:98}\n\nKimmel's show was later reinstated on ABC; the episode is widely cited as a precedent for FCC-broadcaster pressure.{c:98}",
  "stated_justification": "Carr said broadcasters could \"do this the easy way or the hard way,\" warning of \"additional work for the FCC ahead\" if companies did not act on Kimmel.{c:8}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "Jimmy Kimmel Live! went off the air on ABC and on Nexstar- and Sinclair-owned affiliate stations; commentators said the episode illustrated regulatory leverage being used against broadcast content decisions.{c:97}",
  "unknowns": "The exact private communications, if any, between the FCC and ABC, Nexstar or Sinclair around the suspension have not been made public.",
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T20:02:01Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 20,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:01:53Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-22T22:09:37Z",
  "country_name": "United States",
  "tactics": [
    "funding_and_ownership_pressure"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "donald-trump",
    "name": "Donald Trump",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T20:02:01Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": "The exact private communications, if any, between the FCC and ABC, Nexstar or Sinclair around the suspension have not been made public."
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "brendan-carr",
      "name": "Brendan Carr",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "announced",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/brendan-carr"
    },
    {
      "slug": "federal-communications-commission",
      "name": "Federal Communications Commission",
      "kind": "body",
      "role": "other",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/federal-communications-commission"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "abc-news",
      "name": "ABC News",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/abc-news"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 8,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 4,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Threat of FCC \"additional work\" for broadcasters",
      "statement": "Carr framed the choice for broadcasters as cooperating on Kimmel or facing further FCC scrutiny.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 28,
      "evidence_quote": "We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.",
      "evidence_date": "2025-09-19",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:01:58Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 28,
        "url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech",
        "final_url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech",
        "title": "FCC's Brendan Carr and the Kimmel suspension",
        "publisher": "NPR",
        "published_on": "2025-09-19",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/8"
    },
    {
      "id": 96,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 4,
      "field": "occurred_on",
      "value": "2025-09-17",
      "statement": "ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! the same day as Carr's remarks.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 28,
      "evidence_quote": "Kimmel's late-night show was pulled from the air on September 17 hours after the U.S. government threatened to cancel broadcasting licenses",
      "evidence_date": "2025-09-19",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:48:16Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 28,
        "url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech",
        "final_url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech",
        "title": "FCC's Brendan Carr and the Kimmel suspension",
        "publisher": "NPR",
        "published_on": "2025-09-19",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/96"
    },
    {
      "id": 97,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 4,
      "field": "effect_on_reporting",
      "value": "Show suspended by ABC, Nexstar and Sinclair",
      "statement": "ABC and two large affiliate groups pulled or preempted the program within hours of Carr's remarks.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 28,
      "evidence_quote": "Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group...announced they would pull Kimmel's show indefinitely. Then, so did ABC.",
      "evidence_date": "2025-09-19",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:48:17Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 28,
        "url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech",
        "final_url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech",
        "title": "FCC's Brendan Carr and the Kimmel suspension",
        "publisher": "NPR",
        "published_on": "2025-09-19",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/97"
    },
    {
      "id": 98,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 4,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Show later reinstated on ABC",
      "statement": "Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to ABC's schedule after the suspension.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 112,
      "evidence_quote": "Kimmel's show is set to return on Tuesday night, after a weeklong impasse",
      "evidence_date": "2025-09-23",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "seed-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T20:48:18Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 112,
        "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/23/why-is-jimmy-kimmel-returning-to-abc-what-did-his-suspension-cost-disney",
        "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/23/why-is-jimmy-kimmel-returning-to-abc-what-did-his-suspension-cost-disney",
        "title": "Why is Jimmy Kimmel returning to ABC, what did his suspension cost Disney?",
        "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
        "published_on": "2025-09-23",
        "link_state": "live",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
      },
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/98"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": 28,
      "url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech",
      "final_url": "https://www.npr.org/2025/09/19/nx-s1-5546764/fcc-brendan-carr-kimmel-trump-free-speech",
      "title": "FCC's Brendan Carr and the Kimmel suspension",
      "publisher": "NPR",
      "published_on": "2025-09-19",
      "link_state": "live",
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    {
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      "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/23/why-is-jimmy-kimmel-returning-to-abc-what-did-his-suspension-cost-disney",
      "final_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/23/why-is-jimmy-kimmel-returning-to-abc-what-did-his-suspension-cost-disney",
      "title": "Why is Jimmy Kimmel returning to ABC, what did his suspension cost Disney?",
      "publisher": "Al Jazeera",
      "published_on": "2025-09-23",
      "link_state": "live",
      "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T12:00:00Z",
      "wayback_url": null,
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  ],
  "revisions_url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension/revisions",
  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
    "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
  },
  "cite_as": "FCC chair's remarks precede ABC's suspension of Jimmy Kimmel. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-fcc-pressure-precedes-kimmel-suspension. Retrieved 2026-09-22."
}