Bill O’Reilly said Thursday that he tried to warn Jimmy Kimmel last year that his “hatred” for President Donald Trump would result in him going “down.”
Both Kimmel and his late night show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” were suspended indefinitely this week by ABC parent company Disney. That move came following heavy pressure by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who slammed Kimmel’s comments earlier this week about murdered conservative activist Charlie Kirk and, specifically, Trump and his MAGA supporters’ responses to it.
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Disney’s decision eventually came after media companies like Nexstar and Sinclair announced that they would not be airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on their ABC affiliate TV stations until further notice. For his part, O’Reilly said he tried to warn Kimmel in 2024 that something like this would happen sooner or later.
“I got a message to Kimmel I would say about a year ago through Adam Carolla, who is a friend. I said, ‘Look, Jim, why don’t you give me a call? Because this isn’t going in the right direction for you and your family,’” the conservative news commentator and “No Spin News” host explained Thursday night. “Of course, he didn’t call.”
If Kimmel had returned his outreach, O’Reilly knows exactly what he would have told him. “I would have said, ‘Look, you’re getting consumed by hatred, and every human being who’s consumed by hatred goes down. Everyone,’” he shared. “That’s what happened to Jimmy Kimmel.”
O’Reilly did note that, while he wasn’t surprised by Kimmel’s suspension, he’s not happy about it, either. “I was on the Kimmel program five times. I got along very well with him,” he explained. “I had a very, very good relationship with the man. This was before the rise of Donald Trump.”
The longtime conservative news figure said that Kimmel became “unrelenting” in his criticisms of Trump and was in a competition with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert over who could “bash Trump the most.” Despite that, O’Reilly did not hesitate to express his personal disapproval of Kimmel’s suspension. “I’m not happy Jimmy Kimmel got fired, and I know a lot of people are, including the president,” O’Reilly said. “I’m not happy about what has happened to him.”
Kimmel, notably, has not been “fired” by ABC; the network has suspended him indefinitely for the time being.
The comedian’s time-out has nonetheless sparked an intense debate about the future of free speech in America. Democrats throughout the country have decried and condemned Disney’s decision, including former President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, many conservatives and governmental figures, including Carr and Trump, have celebrated it.
Within Hollywood, the move has been met with heavy pushback from figures like Marc Maron, Patton Oswalt, Jean Smart and “Lost” creator Damon Lindelof, the latter of whom vowed to never again work with Disney or ABC if Kimmel’s suspension is not lifted.
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