In 1965, the Four Seasons released “Bye Bye Baby.” Today, there is a new top hit called “Bye Bye Jimmy,” referring to the recently suspended Jimmy Kimmel.

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A few years earlier, in 1962, NBC premiered “The Tonight Show” featuring Johnny Carson. It was ranked as one of the greatest T.V. shows of all time. Carson was funny and entertaining. Although he interviewed past presidents including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton, he “refused to discuss his personal political views on the show out of concern it might alienate his audience.

Several decades later, ABC launched “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in 2003. Unlike the godfather of late-night talk shows, Kimmel had no hesitation in sharing his political views, not with humor, but with vitriol and spite. Given today’s political fragmentation and polarization, his ratings suffered under his hyper-partisan schtick.

In the first quarter of 2025, Stephen Colbert (also now canceled) averaged 2.4 million nightly viewers, edging out Kimmel’s 1.8 million and Jimmy Fallon’s 1.2 million. By comparison, Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld topped his competition with 3.3 million nightly viewers.

For perspective, Gutfeld’s high ratings only account for less than one percent of the U.S. population.

If politics sells, it’s not necessarily Democrat politics. Gutfield leans to the libertarian right, while the others lean to the left. As we often see with those on the left, they can’t help themselves when expressing a political view. They spew venom like a cobra, with zero self-awareness of how their words might be perceived outside of their echo chamber and how many Americans may be offended.

During his monologue last Monday, just days after Charlie Kirk was brutally assassinated, Kimmel spewed:

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Nothing says “MAGA” like a young homosexual man in a romantic relationship with a transgender man trying to be a woman. He had engraved on his bullets messages such as “Hey fascist! Catch!” or “Bella ciao,” an Italian antifascist resistance song. 

Antifascist, like Antifa, is the complete opposite of MAGA. President Trump plans to designate, as CNN describes, “the far-left anti-fascism movement Antifa as a terrorist organization.” Definitely not MAGA.

Kimmel’s show airs on ABC, which is owned by Disney. Nexstar Media, one of the largest T.V. station owners in the U.S., announced, “it would preempt any episodes of Jimmy Kimmel Live! set to air on the stations it owns across the country due to his comments.”

Nextstar’s president yesterday further stated: 

“Continuing to give Mr Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”

This was ABC’s decision, not a mandate from the federal government to cancel Kimmel, similar to how the Biden Administration pressured social media platforms to remove voices challenging the government narrative. 

It’s not censorship, but a business decision to cut ties with someone damaging the company’s brand, just as a top Anheuser-Busch marketing executive was exited after the disastrous Dylan Mulvaney Bud Light campaign. 

Democrats predictably responded. 

Mortgage fraudster Sen. Adam Schiff posted on X: 

“This administration is responsible for the most blatant attacks on the free press in American history. What will be left of the First Amendment when he’s done?” 

Sorry, but the First Amendment applies to government, not private corporations, restrictions on speech. Perhaps Adam missed that in law school or fabricated his logic as he did with his bogus transcript of the Trump-Zelensky “perfect” phone call. 

Another Democrat X-shill calling himself “perpetually pissed” Brooklyn Dad Defiant was as classy as Kimmel posting:

“THIS IS ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT.

Disney is pulling Jimmy Kimmel's show "indefinitely" because he made some comments about Charlie Kirk. Bending the knee to fascism again?

F*** you, @Disney cowards.”

So much for the party of tolerance.

Another X-shill, Brian Krassenstein, posted: 

“BREAKING: Jimmy Kimmel's show is reportedly set to stop airing on ABC after he made a mistake about the Charlie Kirk killer. Meanwhile, Fox News continues to employ people who called for the murder of homeless people. This is so utterly pathetic.”

The last part was “an extremely callous remark” by Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade that he apologized for.

Was Kimmel’s comment a mistake? Judging by his past diatribes, it was what you’d expect from him, and he has not apologized so far. Last year, Kimmel mocked Trump as the “great white supremacist.”

Where was the outcry when conservative T.V. hosts were fired over political comments that their employers disliked?

Tucker Carlson was dismissed from Fox News for questioning the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, which a majority of Americans also question. Atlantic columnist Kevin Williamson was fired in 2018 over a 2014 tweet suggesting that women who have abortions should be executed by hanging. 

Lou Dobbs was also dismissed from Fox News for questioning the voting machines used in the 2020 election.

Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren was fired by The Blaze over pro-choice comments she made on “The View.”

Jimmy Kimmel, Tucker Carlson, and other journalists and entertainers serve at their employer's pleasure. If their words or behavior conflict with their employer's views and positions, they can be fired.

When a conservative is fired, the media say they deserved it. When a liberal is fired, it’s a constitutional crisis, a blatant violation of the First Amendment, and a “threat to democracy.”

I call it fair play or karma. President Trump didn’t hold back when posting on his Truth Social account:

“Great News for America…Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED… Kimmel has ZERO talent…That leaves Jimmy and Seth...Do it NBC!!!” 

-President DJT

It's a new day in America, and Democrats aren't happy about it. Bye, bye. Jimmy, and whoever comes next.

Brian C. Joondeph, M.D., is a physician and writer. Follow me on Twitter @retinaldoctor, Substack Dr. Brian’s Substack, Truth Social @BrianJoondeph, LinkedIn @Brian Joondeph, and on email brianjoondeph@gmail.com.