It seems to me that the best of comics build their popularity and laughs on pointing out the excentricities of the human condition. The comics on cruises make fun of the old people (of which I am one) on-board, to the response of genuine laughter.
Think of all the celebrity roasts -- same thing. Black comedians get laughs from jokes about their perceptions of whites, as do female comedians with jokes about men. The point is that our greatest laughs come from lines that are "politically incorrect". That's what makes them funny.
With a liberal audience, comments about MAGAs are guaranteed laughs.
I will admit that Kimmel's remarks were on the edge of "don't go there", but hardly extreme enough to get him cancelled. What IS extreme is the hatred that flows from Trump's mouth daily. And Charlie Kirk spewed words that were equally offensive.
Where is the concept of equal airtime here? I see us going down a very dangerous path here...
Thank you Sarah, for providing a thorough explanation and analysis of the Kimmel suspension and the impact of that petty action on all Americans’ right to free speech and expression. Also kudos on your assessment of where we are in the present slide into authoritarianism/fascism in this country. Who would have thought we could fall so far, so fast. Much like Miles Taylor and Olivia Troy, I appreciate hearing your take on these issues in Trump 2.0 given your position in his first administration. Again thank you, and great to see you on Substack!
Sarah - thanks for what you are doing. Great article.
For anyone who signed up with Disney +, it’s tough to cancel online.
Call (888) 905-7888. There is a survey on the service rep at the end. The final question asks if you’d recommend D+. Push 0 for wouldn’t recommend. Then, you have 60 seconds for a message. I made sure to say the rep was great, but Disney’s decision with Kimmel was appalling and hurts kids, and adults for that matter, everywhere. Disney’s Magic is GONE.
We need to SPEAK UP!!! With our voices, and more importantly, our wallets. That’s ALL they care about.
I have an adult special needs daughter who LOVES all things Disney, but sadly, I cancelled for HER today. She has benefitted from a great education program in MN and now receives a day program. Those things are at risk now, thanks to the people in charge. Also, her health insurance through Medicaid isn’t safe. She will suffer. She is vulnerable and I want to get her a Cvid vax, her doctor can’t get them, “yet.” Maybe it’s a simple timing, or supply issue, but I think not. Also, I bet a certain Fox host would out her up for euthanasia, and wouldn’t put it past Dear Leader either.
Keep up the fight Bulwark! I am so grateful we have some media company fighting for us, and truth.
God Bless the Bulwark, their WHOLE amazing team, and the USA. 🇺🇸
Both ABC and NextMedia, the owner of ABC affiliate stations all supported yanking of Kimmel. NextMedia is trying to merge with Tegna so it is the same type of corrupted behavior exhibited by the Skydance takeover of CBS. And now we have Sinclair, the other big owner of other ABC affiliates telling Kimmel he needs to donate to TPUSA to get his job back. I hope Kimmel tells them to go pound sand and move to Italy where he has citizenship.
How does he get Italian citizenship? I cannot believe I would like to leave this country! "How the mighty are fallen, are fallen!" -- and in such a short timespan! Which was exactly Heritage Foundation's GOP Project 2025 Plan and the DOGE Plan: smash and grab asap!!!
I am with you Sarah. I am scared. I don't think that people realize that their Constitutional rights are being taken away slowly, one by one. Trump has send our own military to police U.S. citizens. He and his cohorts are now going after out freedom of speech. He is acting more like a dictator than a President. I am afraid of what other Constitutional rights we will lose as US citizens, He has immigrants shaking in fear of their lives and their children's lives. For the first time in my life, and I'm 73, I am fearful for the future of this country.
How do we boycott ABC, Disney, and whomever starting now? Protest to DirecTV, Comcast, etc to force Kimmel and Colbert back on TV? Without them my subscription is devalued? Why do Nexstar and Sinclair have all the power? Don't their viewers care? Are Worker's Strikes beginning to be a realistic tactic to shut down these sniveling companies?
I started my fight yesterday by not tuning into ABC and its affiliates anymore. I don't watch MSNBC anymore after they fired Matthew Dowd. I will never support anything Disney. There are better alternatives.
A nationwide boycott and/or strike is about our only power, since one party has gone totally antidemocracy antiConstitution and the other is mostly just watching it happen. I doubt 2026 will see anything like a fair election. I don't doubt that we are going to see more violence, as the violence-loving party has seemingly all the power -- because corporations and politicians are CEDING all the power to a Trump for heavens sake (well...not heaven's)!
Boycott ABC, CBS, Disney, Paramount, Amazon (hard one, I know), maybe Facebook, X, Tesla, Peter Thiel's corps. Every corporate entity that has joined or bent the knee to authoritarianism, thinking it will benefit them while it harms We the People, needs to understand it is not going to benefit them either!
So well expressed , what to do? How many of us are there against many of them. I will be 103 years old next month.. wish, before I leave this planet, that Trump will be gone from office, taking with him the rest of his mindless followers, and a good part of Congress be voted out of office office.
We live in two parallel worlds, going about our daily lives as U.S. citizens, while another sect is following a ruthless playbook to "restore America" to its original state that does not include the rights of ANY woman, people of color, etc. Carr, no less, once espoused how much the 1st Amendment was needed, until he worked for 47. His goal is to make our airwaves State TV. The question now is for those who once worked for 47, now realize they never knew him, and how much he hated Americans. The question for us is, what are we going to do? ......EPSTEIN
Sarah, I appreciate you and everything you are doing to help our once wonderful country. It is really appalling how quickly the big money has folded to trumps desires. I am sure Putin is having a double vodka every night to toast the dismembering of the USA. We cannot give up!
Of course, Kimmel said nothing derogatory about Kirk. He did *dare* to suggest that lifelong Republican Tyler Robinson was a lot more likely to be a right-wing than left-wing person...such Utter Filth couldn't go un-bullied, could it, by a corrupt FCC commissioner who should be doing his job rather than seeking to be a corporate thought-police enforcer...
It seems to me that the best of comics build their popularity and laughs on pointing out the excentricities of the human condition. The comics on cruises make fun of the old people (of which I am one) on-board, to the response of genuine laughter.
Think of all the celebrity roasts -- same thing. Black comedians get laughs from jokes about their perceptions of whites, as do female comedians with jokes about men. The point is that our greatest laughs come from lines that are "politically incorrect". That's what makes them funny.
With a liberal audience, comments about MAGAs are guaranteed laughs.
I will admit that Kimmel's remarks were on the edge of "don't go there", but hardly extreme enough to get him cancelled. What IS extreme is the hatred that flows from Trump's mouth daily. And Charlie Kirk spewed words that were equally offensive.
Where is the concept of equal airtime here? I see us going down a very dangerous path here...
Thank you Sarah, for providing a thorough explanation and analysis of the Kimmel suspension and the impact of that petty action on all Americans’ right to free speech and expression. Also kudos on your assessment of where we are in the present slide into authoritarianism/fascism in this country. Who would have thought we could fall so far, so fast. Much like Miles Taylor and Olivia Troy, I appreciate hearing your take on these issues in Trump 2.0 given your position in his first administration. Again thank you, and great to see you on Substack!
Sarah - thanks for what you are doing. Great article.
For anyone who signed up with Disney +, it’s tough to cancel online.
Call (888) 905-7888. There is a survey on the service rep at the end. The final question asks if you’d recommend D+. Push 0 for wouldn’t recommend. Then, you have 60 seconds for a message. I made sure to say the rep was great, but Disney’s decision with Kimmel was appalling and hurts kids, and adults for that matter, everywhere. Disney’s Magic is GONE.
We need to SPEAK UP!!! With our voices, and more importantly, our wallets. That’s ALL they care about.
I have an adult special needs daughter who LOVES all things Disney, but sadly, I cancelled for HER today. She has benefitted from a great education program in MN and now receives a day program. Those things are at risk now, thanks to the people in charge. Also, her health insurance through Medicaid isn’t safe. She will suffer. She is vulnerable and I want to get her a Cvid vax, her doctor can’t get them, “yet.” Maybe it’s a simple timing, or supply issue, but I think not. Also, I bet a certain Fox host would out her up for euthanasia, and wouldn’t put it past Dear Leader either.
Keep up the fight Bulwark! I am so grateful we have some media company fighting for us, and truth.
God Bless the Bulwark, their WHOLE amazing team, and the USA. 🇺🇸
Vote with our feet wait till ABC runs into trouble with football fans
And Disney moms dads and kids!!!
Both ABC and NextMedia, the owner of ABC affiliate stations all supported yanking of Kimmel. NextMedia is trying to merge with Tegna so it is the same type of corrupted behavior exhibited by the Skydance takeover of CBS. And now we have Sinclair, the other big owner of other ABC affiliates telling Kimmel he needs to donate to TPUSA to get his job back. I hope Kimmel tells them to go pound sand and move to Italy where he has citizenship.
How does he get Italian citizenship? I cannot believe I would like to leave this country! "How the mighty are fallen, are fallen!" -- and in such a short timespan! Which was exactly Heritage Foundation's GOP Project 2025 Plan and the DOGE Plan: smash and grab asap!!!
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/aug/13/jimmy-kimmel-italian-citizenship
Thanks! (There are a lot of public figures who need a Plan B! )
I am with you Sarah. I am scared. I don't think that people realize that their Constitutional rights are being taken away slowly, one by one. Trump has send our own military to police U.S. citizens. He and his cohorts are now going after out freedom of speech. He is acting more like a dictator than a President. I am afraid of what other Constitutional rights we will lose as US citizens, He has immigrants shaking in fear of their lives and their children's lives. For the first time in my life, and I'm 73, I am fearful for the future of this country.
How do we boycott ABC, Disney, and whomever starting now? Protest to DirecTV, Comcast, etc to force Kimmel and Colbert back on TV? Without them my subscription is devalued? Why do Nexstar and Sinclair have all the power? Don't their viewers care? Are Worker's Strikes beginning to be a realistic tactic to shut down these sniveling companies?
I started my fight yesterday by not tuning into ABC and its affiliates anymore. I don't watch MSNBC anymore after they fired Matthew Dowd. I will never support anything Disney. There are better alternatives.
A nationwide boycott and/or strike is about our only power, since one party has gone totally antidemocracy antiConstitution and the other is mostly just watching it happen. I doubt 2026 will see anything like a fair election. I don't doubt that we are going to see more violence, as the violence-loving party has seemingly all the power -- because corporations and politicians are CEDING all the power to a Trump for heavens sake (well...not heaven's)!
Boycott ABC, CBS, Disney, Paramount, Amazon (hard one, I know), maybe Facebook, X, Tesla, Peter Thiel's corps. Every corporate entity that has joined or bent the knee to authoritarianism, thinking it will benefit them while it harms We the People, needs to understand it is not going to benefit them either!
Great article!
Well said!
Thank you, Sarah!
So well expressed , what to do? How many of us are there against many of them. I will be 103 years old next month.. wish, before I leave this planet, that Trump will be gone from office, taking with him the rest of his mindless followers, and a good part of Congress be voted out of office office.
From your lips to God’s ears!
I'm with you!
We live in two parallel worlds, going about our daily lives as U.S. citizens, while another sect is following a ruthless playbook to "restore America" to its original state that does not include the rights of ANY woman, people of color, etc. Carr, no less, once espoused how much the 1st Amendment was needed, until he worked for 47. His goal is to make our airwaves State TV. The question now is for those who once worked for 47, now realize they never knew him, and how much he hated Americans. The question for us is, what are we going to do? ......EPSTEIN
More than two...but clearly at least one is out to worsen the lives of everyone that doesn't slavishly let their every whim become "law".
Sarah, I appreciate you and everything you are doing to help our once wonderful country. It is really appalling how quickly the big money has folded to trumps desires. I am sure Putin is having a double vodka every night to toast the dismembering of the USA. We cannot give up!
As we know, this is not Disney’s first at bat in the capitulation game ( George Stephanopolus)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/fcc-jimmy-kimmel-charlie-kirk-monologue-1236373708/
Of course, Kimmel said nothing derogatory about Kirk. He did *dare* to suggest that lifelong Republican Tyler Robinson was a lot more likely to be a right-wing than left-wing person...such Utter Filth couldn't go un-bullied, could it, by a corrupt FCC commissioner who should be doing his job rather than seeking to be a corporate thought-police enforcer...
Can't Claim being American Running Around Playing Communist Manifesto
https://torrancestephensphd.substack.com/p/cant-claim-being-american-running