FCC investigates ABC after Kimmel’s Melania Trump joke
The FCC is reviewing ABC’s broadcast license after Jimmy Kimmel’s joke about Melania Trump sparked calls for action.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel said his ongoing battle with President Donald Trump has cost ABC and its parent company, The Walt Disney Company, “billions.”
During his annual candid stand-up routine on May 12 at the Disney Upfront for advertisers, Mr. Kimmel mocked the financial impact on the company, referencing events such as “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” which ABC stopped broadcasting in September. Under pressure from the White House.
“I’ve cost the company a lot of money this year. Billions of dollars. There is very likely no employee in the history of any company who has done more harm to their employer than hiring me 24 years ago,” Kimmel said. “From a purely mathematical standpoint, I was the worst personnel decision Disney ever made. No one, not even the captain of the Exxon Valdez, caused more damage.”
During Kimmel’s speech, Kimmel had his partner, Guillermo Rodriguez, walk around wealthy advertisers with donation baskets asking for monetary donations. (He received $7 and a tennis ball.)
The highly publicized White House battle was beneficial for “Live!” evaluation.
“Thanks in large part to our partners in Washington, we’ve seen a 25% increase in viewers between the ages of 18 and 49,” Kimmel said, citing key demographics. “It’s hard to get ratings right now, but if[legendary Tonight Show host]Johnny Carson woke up to my ratings, he’d immediately crawl under the sink and chug every Drano he could find there.”
Kimmel, who appeared the night before with other late-night hosts on the soon-to-be-canceled “Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” said CBS was trying to convert Colbert’s slot into a “loaned” slot on Byron Allen’s “Comics Unleashed.”
“Reruns of ‘Comics Unleashed’ starring Paula Poundstone and Andy Dick are ‘most likely’ to offend the president,” Kimmel said. “Poor Stephen, losing your job is bad enough. Imagine being replaced by the owner of the Weather Channel.”
Kimmel praised ABC’s ratings rebound for “Dancing with the Stars,” calling the social reality show “hotter than grandma’s panties.”
However, the comedian expressed hesitation in his speech to mock other struggling networks as he has done in the past.
“Right now we’re like a bunch of dirty, hungry Chihuahuas waiting for a chicken leg to fall under the table,” Kimmel said. “This is my first time supporting CBS.”
One of the shows on CBS that is expected to do well in the ratings is the return of LL Cool J in the new “NCIS” series.
“‘NCIS: New York’ answers the question: What would happen if LL Cool J were partnered with another white man in another city?” Kimmel said he also has his sights set on the upcoming drama “Einstein,” about Albert Einstein’s son (Matthew Gray Gubler) solving crimes.
“They were supposed to release it last year, but they postponed it because they had to figure out who the Einstein who decided to make the show was.”
