Jimmy Kimmel used his monologue Wednesday night to warn viewers that his show appears to once again be in the crosshairs of Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission.
Introducing the topic by mocking Trump for devoting attention to late-night television while abroad on a headline-making trip to Davos, Kimmel told viewers that the president had shared “this story about how his minions at the FCC are planning to make it difficult for shows like ours and The View to interview politicians they don’t agree with.”
“For real,” Kimmel added, before invoking his brief suspension last fall and the outpouring of public support that led to his reinstatement. “We are once again getting threatened by the FCC. I might need your help again.”
Kimmel was responding to an FCC Media Bureau notice issued earlier Wednesday that challenges long-standing assumptions about how broadcast talk shows are regulated when they host political candidates.
The notice warns that appearances by legally qualified candidates on late-night and daytime talk shows may not automatically qualify for exemptions from federal equal-time rules—raising the possibility that such bookings could trigger demands for equal airtime from opposing candidates.
While the FCC characterized the notice as simply “guidance,” critics argue it represents a meaningful escalation—one that could have a chilling effect on political interviews in entertainment programming. The notice also emphasizes that programs motivated by partisan purposes would not qualify for exemptions, language that has alarmed late-night observers.
For now, there is no indication the FCC plans to take direct action against Jimmy Kimmel Live! or any other show. Still, Kimmel’s message was unmistakable: he sees the agency’s latest move as a serious threat, not a technicality—and one that could once again put the future of political comedy on broadcast television to the test.
Do they really think that the audience is going to sit quietly while these imbeciles banter on about the chief imbecile in the White House. They are setting themselves up for disaster…as usual. When will this “age of ignorance “ end? Wake up, wake up, wake up!