A few members of the podcast manosphere are backing Jimmy Kimmel.
Folks like Tom Segura, Tim Dillon and Andrew Schulz have expressed support for the under-fire ABC late-night host, who was suspended by ABC earlier this week for his comments describing Charlie Kirk shooting suspect Tyler Robinson. None are considered left wing, and Dillon and Schultz, in particular, are considered fearless about adopting controversial positions and regularly mock “woke” culture.
Dillon, host of The Tim Dillon Show, posted on Instagram Thursday: “Kimmel should still be on the air. It’s wrong to pretend it’s because the show sucked or because it was losing eyeballs and money (both true.) Clearly it was a politically motivated hit job. The joke was pretty mild, factually wrong as in the guy who shot Charlie Kirk wasn’t a MAGA guy, but who cares, that doesn’t matter. Anyone who cares about the ability to speak freely for a living should be disturbed by this. They should also be disturbed by people celebrating the assassination of a political opponent, no matter what you thought of his views.”
Schulz and his Flagrant 2 podcast and fellow comic co-host Akaash Singh condemned ABC’s move. Schultz posted on Instagram Wednesday, seemingly referring to Jimmy Kimmel Live!: “Left: ‘Fascism is wrong! Unless you kill our political opponents, then we’ll celebrate it.’ Right: ‘Cancel Culture is wrong! Unless you cancel the shows of our political opponents, then we’ll celebrate it.’ The vast majority of Americans that I speak to are repulsed by this behavior yet there’s almost no representation of this sentiment in media (independent or mainstream). How is that possible? Do you think Charlie Kirk would support canceling people for exercising their free speech?”
Schultz has said he voted for Trump, though in July expressed regret due to Trump “doing the exact opposite thing” of his campaign promises.
Singh said Kimmel’s suspension “seemed like a big attack on free speech,” and added: “We’ve been staunchly in favor of free speech and it’s pretty funny to see right wing people become left wing people. If you agree with this, that’s some snowflake shit. And somebody said [to me], ‘You clearly don’t know what the First Amendment means.’ And that’s exactly what the left-wing people used to say to me — ‘freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences.’ So ya’ll have just switched.”
While Segura, host of Your Mom’s House, wrote Friday: “It’s so depressing that it’s come to this point. Everything is so divisive and reactions to anything are only done in extremes now. Personally I find the current state of affairs alarming. I wonder who will run to do what [FCC Chair] Brendan Carr suggests next? Jimmy Kimmel is a great dude.”
All these comics have been regulars on The Joe Rogan Experience. Yet Rogan himself — who endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 election — has been silent on social media and on his podcast about a fellow celebrity comedian and chat show host being suspended for a phrase uttered within a joke. Rogan’s fans have been calling out the podcaster on his subreddit for days about the issue as he’s the most popular podcaster in the country and regularly — practically every week — advocates for free speech within his podcast. His Austin comedy club, Comedy Mothership, has been touted as a free speech mecca where comics don’t have to worry about cancel culture. And it’s not like he doesn’t regularly sound off about political issues (for instance, earlier this week, Rogan and guest Matthew McConaughey united against Texas’ controversial Ten Commandments law).
At the same time, it’s not like Rogan should necessarily be required to sound off about every controversy that might bubble up. It’s just seldom there is a hot button issue that’s so large and consequential and also smack dab in the middle of a subject — comedians getting silenced for what they say on stage — that he’s been more vocal about than just about anyone.
