Reacting to the news that ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel, the assembled cast of Wednesday’s Laura Coates Live on CNN did not appreciate the difference between a comedian who pushes the boundary of politically correct discourse and an individual who just happens to have a comedy show spreading falsehoods.
Comedian Pete Dominick made the fundamental category error when he declared, “I mean, it's just really important that people understand that comedy isn't—there is no sacred space. It's comedy. 9/11, cancer, the Holocaust, the worst things, I opened for Joan Rivers. She made the most offensive jokes I've ever heard, and she had a huge following. The market can decide, but this is an attack on the career and integrity of every comedian, writer, and performer. And we have to remain in solidarity and speak out together.”
Kimmel was not suspended for one of his thousands of jokes. He was suspended for a piece of commentary that played with the conspiratorial idea that Charlie Kirk’s killer was a man of the right. There is a big difference between Kimmel saying something conservatives don’t like versus hinting at something that is just not true.
Neverthless, Dominick rolled on, “Something has to be done, and it has to be done in solidarity across the board. And by the way, wait ‘til Trump supporters Adam Carolla and Joe Rogan crack their mics. I don't think they're going to like it much more than Tucker Carlson did. My friend Greg Proops, by the way, just posted, comedian, ‘I hope everyone enjoys one channel with nothing but Oral Roberts and Hee Haw.’”
Media correspondent Brian Stelter also made the mistake of claiming Kimmel told a joke, “I'm thinking about what Timothy Snyder said tonight. He's the author of On Tyranny. He said the general pattern in regime change is that the comedy gets better, and then it gets banned.”
Comedy hasn’t gotten better and it hasn’t gotten banned, but Stelter still warned, “We want to think that in the United States, we are somehow superior and safer, and we're not at risk of the democratic backsliding that we've seen in other countries. But this pattern has played out before in countries like Hungary, in Turkey, in numerous other countries. This pattern has played out before where speech rights are curtailed.
Deadline Hollywood executive editor Dominic Patten found the whole situation to be ironic, “But Brian, it's also played out here in America. The irony of ironies, the reason Jimmy Kimmel went on the air in 2003 was because Bill Maher was canceled in 2002 for saying that he didn't believe the 9/11 terrorists, they were terrorists, he didn't believe it was fair to call them cowards. This has happened before. This is part of a cycle we have in this country where we do, as people saw in the late 60s and the 50s. And now, unfortunately, we're in a time, a dark time like that now.”
In 2025, late night had lost two late night comedians due to economic realities within the industry. It has now, likely, lost a third due to his own stupidity. At some point, the industry has to look in the mirror and stop blaming others for their problems.
Here is a transcript for the September 17 show:
CNN Laura Coates Live
9/17/2025
11:10 PM ET
LAURA COATES: I mean, Pete, I know you want to react to that given the given the circumstances.
PETE DOMINICK: I mean, it's just really important that people understand that comedy isn't—there is no sacred space. It's comedy. 9/11, cancer, the Holocaust, the worst things, I opened for Joan Rivers. She made the most offensive jokes I've ever heard, and she had a huge following. The market can decide, but this is an attack on the career and integrity of every comedian, writer, and performer. And we have to remain in solidarity and speak out together.
Something has to be done, and it has to be done in solidarity across the board. And by the way, wait ‘til Trump supporters Adam Carolla and Joe Rogan crack their mics. I don't think they're going to like it much more than Tucker Carlson did. My friend Greg Proops, by the way, just posted, comedian, “I hope everyone enjoys one channel with nothing but Oral Roberts and Hee Haw.”
COATES: Brian, I know you want to jump in. I know we don't have much time, but please.
BRIAN STELTER: I'm thinking about what Timothy Snyder said tonight. He's the author of On Tyranny. He said the general pattern in regime change is that the comedy gets better, and then it gets banned. We want to think that in the United States, we are somehow superior and safer, and we're not at risk of the democratic backsliding that we've seen in other countries. But this pattern has played out before in countries like Hungary, in Turkey, in numerous other countries. This pattern has played out before where speech rights are curtailed.
DOMINIC PATTEN: But Brian, it's also played out here in America. The irony of ironies, the reason Jimmy Kimmel went on the air in 2003 was because Bill Maher was canceled in 2002 for saying that he didn't believe the 9/11 terrorists, they were terrorists, he didn't believe it was fair to call them cowards. This has happened before. This is part of a cycle we have in this country where we do, as people saw in the late 60s and the 50s. And now, unfortunately, we're in a time, a dark time like that now.
DOMINICK: There’s nothing like this. Nothing like this. Nothing like this.