What does free speech have to do with a private broadcaster like Nexstar Media Group determining what it considers appropriate on its ABC-affiliate broadcasts? Jimmy Kimmel’s remarks aired on ABC; Nexstar’s ABC stations are now choosing to preempt his show because they don’t want political polarization or misinformation on their air. Kimmel is free to speak on other platforms. There is no First Amendment issue here. Your claim commits a state-action category error by conflating private editorial discretion with government censorship.

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afavour 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Not quite as simple as that. The FCC chief threatened ABC just today:

https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/brendan-carr-abc-fcc-jimmy-...

If Nexstar was acting in reaction to what Carr said there’s a First Amendment argument to be made. They also require FCC approval for a merger right now, it’s not difficult to see the quid pro quo potential.

The argument would at least be heard by a judge.

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denuoweb 12 hours ago | parent [-]

[flagged]

	▲	afavour 11 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		> First Amendment ‘coercion’ requires a concrete threat backed by government power and a causal link to the station’s decision. Yeah. How about this direct quote from Carr? > I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.
	▲	kelnos 9 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		It is incredible the mental gymnastics you are going through to try to paint this as something other than government censorship.

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cosmicgadget 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Can you visualize a Venn diagram that has 'free speech' and 'the First Amendment'?

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tzs 12 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

>>> The ABC late-night host’s remarks constituted “the sickest conduct possible,” FCC chair Brendan Carr told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson on Wednesday. Carr suggested his FCC could move to revoke ABC affiliate licenses as a way to force Disney to punish Kimmel

Last I checked, the FCC is part of the government.

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rezonant 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Your post deliberately leaves out the statements from the FCC threatening action, which spooked Nexstar who has business with the FCC.

Maybe you weren't aware of this fact despite it being literally the headline shown on the very page you are commenting on:

> ABC yanks Jimmy Kimmel’s show ‘indefinitely’ after threat from FCC chair

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denuoweb 3 hours ago | parent [-]

Your post deliberately leaves out statements from Sinclair and Nexstar themselves.

"In a statement posted online, Sinclair praised the Federal Communications Commission chair, Brendan Carr and called the comic’s remarks “inappropriate and deeply insensitive”."

"Inappropriate and deeply insensitive", but I suppose you, and the others here like you, believe it is appropriate and timely to spread misinformation as long as it fuels your narrative.

	▲	croon 2 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Were those comments made before or after the direct and described causal threat made by Carr?
	▲	ceejayoz 2 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		No one can be this genuinely naïve. “Yes, the kidnapped torture victim in my basement dungeon is fine. Here, they wrote a note saying so.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah_Denton