More People Complained To The FCC About Jimmy Kimmel's Suspension Than The Incident That Spurred It

According to some, late-night television is losing money hand over fist, and yet, it feels like we’re talking about late-night television now more than we have in years. Between the abrupt departure announcement of Stephen Colbert to the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, there are a lot of strong opinions about what’s going on in the late-night space, as demonstrated by the fact that more than 1600 people wrote letters to the FCC following Kimmel’s suspension.

Thanks to a Freedom of Information Act Request The Hill has obtained every letter written to the Federal Communications Comission following the monologue that resulted in Jimmel Kimmel being suspended by ABC, and the suspension itself, there were apparently more than 1,645 letters written intotal, and while three were approximately 30 complaints sent in regarding what Kimmel said, the rest were critical of what ABC did in response.

A Few Complained About Jimmy Kimmel To The FCC

On September 15, 2025, Jimmy Kimmel made comments regarding the death of political commentator Charlie Kirk on his show Jimmy Kimmel Live! Some viewed the jokes as making light of a tragic event, and Chairman of the FCC Brendan Carr made comments suggesting that ABC’s affiliates refuse to carry the program in response. Following those comments, major affiliate groups Nexstar and Sinclair did exactly that, leading ABC to suspend Kimmel indefinitely.

In the days following Kimmel’s comments, some took issue with what Kimmel said. One letter highlighted by The Hill accused Kimmel of distorting the truth about the murder of Kirk and also said…

It’s clear that there were people who were upset enough by Kimmel’s comments to inform the FCC. However, the vast majority of associated complaints were targeted at the FCC, as well as ABC.

Far More Complained About Kimmel's Suspension

While a few asked the FCC to take action against Kimmel, many more complained about the action that had been taken. Hundreds of people complained about Kimmel being suspended for his comments, and many took aim at the FCC itself and the comments made by Carr, which many felt had instigated the entire thing. One comment from Tennessee said…

While many spoke directly to the FCC, others seemingly expressed their frustration with ABC’s owner, Disney. Cancellations of Disney+ and Hulu reportedly spiked following Kimmel’s suspension, a fact that Kimmel himself joked bout when he eventually returned to his show about a week later.

Clearly, of the people who felt strongly enough to write to the FCC, they felt the reaction was worse than the issue that caused it. This likely won't be the last time that's the case, though it will be interesting to see if the reaction changes the way incidents like this are handled in the future.