Jimmy Fallon spoke up for his friend in late-night comedy, Jimmy Kimmel, whose show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was pulled by ABC on Wednesday.
Fallon, the host of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” said on Thursday night that he hoped Kimmel would get to film the show again.
“Well, guys, the big story is that Jimmy Kimmel was suspended by ABC after pressure from the FCC, leaving everyone thinking ‘WTF,'” Fallon said.
He then joked that because he and Kimmel share the same first name, he had woken up to 100 text messages from his father expressing sorrow that his show had been canceled.
Fallon then got serious, saying, “But to be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on, and no one does.”
“But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he’s a decent, funny, and loving guy. I hope he comes back,” he said, drawing loud cheers and applause from the audience.
Fallon still found a way to make a joke about President Donald Trump during the episode. He said he would continue speaking on his show without fear of censorship, but when he started describing how Trump looked on his recent trip to the UK, a loud voiceover drowned out his voice, saying Trump looked “incredibly handsome.”
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Kimmel’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was indefinitely suspended by Disney after Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, took offense to Kimmel’s comments about the killing of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk.
Fallon was one of several late-night hosts who commented on Kimmel’s suspension on Thursday. Jon Stewart gave a sarcasm-laden monologue on the topic, Seth Meyers said the suspension was a “big moment for our democracy,” and Stephen Colbert called it a “blatant assault on the freedom of speech.”
Following Kimmel’s suspension, Fallon also canceled his appearance at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival, where he had been scheduled to talk about his coming NBC reality series, “On Brand.”
“In light of recent events, Jimmy couldn’t be here,” a spokesperson for Fast Company told Business Insider.
A representative of Fallon did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
