Adam Carolla reacted Friday to Disney's decision to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely, removing Kimmel from his longtime late-night platform amid a heated political moment in American media. Disney, the parent company of ABC, said the program would be suspended indefinitely while it reassesses the show's future after Kimmel described Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old Utah man charged in connection with the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as part of the "MAGA gang," a characterization the indictment details later clarified.
On his radio program The Adam Carolla Show, Carolla said: "My feeling is this: I don’t think he should have been fired. It’s a weird thing. The right and the left are always sort of misinterpreting things. He was inaccurate about something. It wasn’t like he was necessarily attacking Charlie Kirk. He was trying to dump it on Trump and inaccurate about it."
Carolla argued that in a modern media landscape, shocking events quickly generate narratives from both sides that attempt to pin blame on the other. He said, "I don’t like the government getting involved," and that, "ratings will do the talking" and "you can support them or not support them" based on what audiences choose to watch. He warned that people tend to view their political opponents as cartoon characters.
Carolla said: "I know Jimmy to be a very good guy, and a generous guy, and I’ve always said that about him." He added that conservatives might view him as a caricature, but Carolla maintains the person he knows beyond the persona.
While Kimmel has shifted to liberal commentary in recent years, Carolla emphasized that their friendship remains and that political disagreements should not erase personal ties. The Man Show, the early 2000s Comedy Central sketch program that helped launch both men's careers, is part of the broader context of Kimmel's career, and archived clips from that era have resurfaced in discussions about his past.
Late-night hosts rallied around Kimmel following the suspension, with some accusing the Trump administration of censorship.
Carolla's remarks reflect a broader conversation about accountability, free expression, and the changing landscape of entertainment news.
