The Center for American Rights, a conservative advocacy group, filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission on Thursday targeting ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!
The 12-page filing accuses Jimmy Kimmel of using the public airwaves to advance Democratic politics without disclosing his personal ties to the candidates and campaigns he has supported.
The group alleges that Kimmel has repeatedly hosted Democratic politicians after donating to or fundraising for their campaigns.
The complaint cites examples including the 2024 fundraiser he headlined with Joe Biden and Barack Obama that raised record sums for Democrats, followed by then-Vice President Kamala Harris’s appearance on his show days later.
Kimmel also sent out fundraising appeals for the Harris–Walz ticket while continuing to host both Harris and her running mate on his show. He has made past donations to Adam Schiff, Beto O’Rourke, Jaime Harrison, Eric Garcetti, Raphael Warnock, and Katie Porter, all of whom later appeared as guests.
The Center alleges that these activities represent violations of the FCC’s conflict-of-interest policies. Those rules traditionally apply to financial interests, but the group states that Commission precedent extends them to personal political activities.
The filing contends that viewers should be informed “by whom they are being persuaded.” It criticizes ABC for applying donation restrictions only to its news division, not to entertainment hosts such as Kimmel.
The complaint also notes that Kimmel’s wife and co-head writer Molly McNearney, along with other senior staffers, have made hundreds of political donations, further raising conflict concerns.
While Kimmel isn’t the only late-night host to engage in political activities while also hosting candidates and commenting on their races on his show, Daniel Suhr, president of the Center for American Rights called him “perhaps the worst offender,” arguing that Kimmel’s interviews with Democratic politicians amounted to providing “free, softball” airtime while concealing his own financial and political involvement.
The complaint urges the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau to investigate. It suggests potential remedies that could include admonition or probationary license renewal for KABC, the ABC-owned affiliate in Los Angeles that airs Kimmel’s program.
The complaint comes the same week Kimmel returned to the air from his summer hiatus, launching back into sharp anti-Trump jokes.
ABC has not commented on the complaint, and the FCC has yet to respond. The complete filing can be read below:
Amazing. Their guy won despite all this supposed conflict of interest from Kimmel, and they’re still complaining.
“The era of small government is over.”
I’m old enough to remember when conservatives thought the nine most dangerous words were “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” And now, an entertainer both speaks his mind and put his money where his mouth is, and all of the sudden they’re going to the 𝙁𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 to whine, complain, and demand that the rules for donation restrictions of a private company to their own employees should be changed by government fiat. I thought that was overreach by the Biden administration when Twitter and other social networks clamped down on supposed “free speech”.
“No talent and no ratings.”
I also thought that Kimmel’s ratings were abysmal and that nobody was watching late night talk shows anymore— except for Greg Gutfeld’s prime-time MAGA love-fest that’s on a 𝙣𝙚𝙬𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙡 that should also have donation restrictions, right? How much money has ol’ Greg donated to political concerns? How many millions of people are Greg persuading without informing “by whom they are being persuaded”?
Either Jimmy Kimmel is a low-rated hack on a TV show genre that no one watches, or he’s a master manipulator of millions of people closely involved with the Democratic Party that helped get Kamala Harris elec𝘖𝘏 𝘞𝘈𝘐𝘛.
Y’all can’t have it both ways, guys.
The stupidest part about this whole thing is the fact that they are going after only 1 station, KABC-TV, for their license despite the fact that Jimmy Kimmel Live is a network program that airs on all ABC stations and affiliates, and yet for some reason these wackjobs are going after a single station, Channel 7 in Los Angeles, rather than ABC themselves.
The network doesn’t have a license, but the stations they own do. I think this same group is the one that was going after specific CBS stations over that 60 Minutes interview.
Are you kidding me? Freaking fascists!!! Donald Trump is a child rapist.
You nailed it, Christi, this is Fascism in all it’s trivial hatred of everything that isn’t itself.
And Faux News is?
Not regulated by the FCC.
Sean Hannity regularly advised candidate and president Trump without disclosing it, and still hosts a radio show carried by radio stations very much regulated by the FCC.
No doubt this complaint was put forth by the biggest criminal empire to ever exist in the government led by the worst criminal of them all. DJT, aka CHEETO THE PEDO. It should be illegal for criminals to file complaints.
It all comes down to the GQP angers at any pro-left artists, while Fox is a complete GQP campaign party 24×7. If you don’t like it, turn it off. I hate FOX, so I don’t watch it. Try that with shows you don’t like.
Fox is just a GOP/MAGA bukakke party.
Just release the final papers if you are not guilty. It’s not going away.
So …. Rogan, Bannon, Hannity, are all non-political !!
This FCC filing is a joke and these folks ought to be fined for wasting time
If this succeeds I guess Fon “News” will have to shut down. 😆
They’re not regulated by the FCC.
Did the first amendment get repealed while I wasn’t looking?
Sean Hannity, who still hosts an FCC regulated radio show, regularly advised Trump 1.0 without disclosing it.
If we didn’t have the most partisan FCC chair ever running things, this complaint wouldn’t be a concern.
FWIW, it looks like KABC’s current license doesn’t expire until 2030.