Kayfabe all around.

Late night has been dying for a decade. Disney gets cover to end the show.

Kimmel knows it’s over. He gets to go down looking like he’s fighting instead of unentertaining.

Trump gets to claim he took down Kimmel, red meat for his base.

News and Social Media gets something to boost their numbers.

> He gets to go down looking like he’s fighting instead of unentertaining.

Even better: he uses the opportunity to make it clear that any kind of comment that is out of line with the administration will not be tolerated.

He didn't go down fighting. He went out demonstrating the consequence of not agreeing.

How does any other media personality know that it's "kayfabe"?

The chilling effect is not "kayfabe".

On the other hand, this fits a very consistent pattern with the administration and businesses or personalities that it deems critical.

Plus of you're going out in a blaze, it's something more substantive than what he said.

It’s amazing to me that every time something like this happens some people paint it as some grand conspiracy and 4D chess move involving a large set of people. It’s like 4chan leaking all over the Internet.

Kayfabe is when the events are scripted by people who are working together even as they play enemies in the show and where everybody involved knows it is fake and plays along anyway.

Do you believe that Trump and Kimmel are actually coordinating this behind the scenes? Do you believe that the large majority of both of their audiences understand this to be a show rather than reality?