Kimmel and Killing

censorship and extrajudicial killing make each other more likely

Just as the United States was switching broadcast television signals from analog to digital, I made my network television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live! playing Thomas Prusik Parkin, who impersonated his dead mother, Irene Prusik, to collect her Social Security benefits, in a comedy sketch.

Because of the technology switch to digital broadcast, some friends couldn't watch it live: they hadn't yet gotten the hardware needed to receive the digital signals. It was the beginning of a new era. Or was it?

On December 2, 1766, the Swedish Parliament passed the Freedom of the Press Act, and in so doing they abolished the censorship of most publications by the government. It's often touted as the first law to help ensure press freedom. Ten years later, in 1776, the Virginia Declaration of Rights included in its Section 12 the following:

That the freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be restrained but by despotic governments.

The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment goes even further:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

and it was adopted as law as part of the Bill of Rights (the first ten Amendments) on December 15, 1791.

Cut to: this week, 234 years later: Disney owned ABC has suspended the Jimmy Kimmel Live! sh0w indefinitely after the chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on a podcast, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead [revoking the broadcasting licenses of ABC TV stations].”

The U.S. Government didn't like what a late night comic said, and so demanded his show go away, and Disney's ABC obeyed.

"This is the most straightforward attack on free speech from state actors I've ever seen in my life and it's not even close." - Chris Hayes, September 17, 2025

There is more animating this censorship by the federal government. Two companies that own ABC affiliates (individual television stations ABC needs to have carry their shows and ads in order to be a nationwide television network) wanted Kimmel pulled in order to make potus smile on their merger plans.

As a trade publication sums up: "In addition to both companies [Nexstar and Sinclair] pushing for the FCC to lift the 39% cap on broadcast TV station ownership [which would allow Nexstar to move forward with]...a pending $6.2 billion merger deal with its rival [TV station owning company] Tegna, which is subject to FCC approval. Meanwhile, Disney [which owns ABC] has a pending deal to acquire the NFL Network, which requires FCC approval, and a pending merger between Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, which requires approval from the Department of Justice."

No fewer than five companies with billions of dollars in play want the President to let them do various mergers. So these companies cut a comic's show from their line-ups because the President didn't like what the comic said.

Since these companies enabled this, potus now says it is illegal to insult him on public airwaves, airwaves that are property of the American People. On Thursday, potus said: "All they [late night shows] do is hit [insult] Trump...They’re licensed! They’re not allowed to do that." Over 2oo years of law says otherwise.

And now, some whiplash.

Extrajudicial killing can be a form of censorship:

"Those who exercise their right to free speech may pay with their lives when governments treat criticism as equivalent to treason."

When the state kills someone illegally, it shuts them up for good, illegally.

Without the law protecting everyone's ability to speak, anyone's voice is silenced the moment the government (or anyone working for it) feels like silencing it. Without the law protecting everyone's life, anyone's life is also ended the moment the government (or anyone working for it) feels like ending it.

On Friday, an ICE agent "...opened fire and killed a suspect [Silverio Villegas González] in a Chicago suburb..." DHS falsely claims Silverio Villegas González was driving at or dragging an ICE agent at the time they shot him. Video footage reveals that when the shots were fired, that simply wasn't the case.

So, less than a week after the federal government killed Silverio Villegas González (with no due process) while he likely posed no threat to life nor property, the federal government has pulled a show off the air without killing its host. This time.

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Disney is facing blow-back from this already with reports of Disney's streaming sites' cancellation pages overwhelmed by traffic.

The administration has also faced blow-back for this pattern of trying to control media and entertainment. Unfortunately, there is precedent for an authoritarian government that seeks to silence critics without being held accountable for it:

The covert killing of a dissenter removes the critical voice while concealing governmental responsibility. A famous example of this practice is associated with Henry II of England. His rash words—"Who will free me from this turbulent priest?"—led to the assassination in 1170...of his former friend Thomas Becket... (source)

So for at least one-thousand years, we have known that authoritarians can and have killed as a form a censorship. And this American administration already ends lives haphazardly, whether in a Chicago suburb, an ICE concentration camp or boats of civilians at sea. A performer or journalist is not a massive escalation for them.

If Kimmel, like Colbert, is silenced without push-back against the government's illegal suppression of free speech, we may lose news coverage too as the government expands its censorship to the rest of legacy media and then censors the internet as well. Then, we may not even have a way to know about future government killings and abuses until they're quite literally on our street and in our homes.

For too many centuries state violence and censorship by the state have reinforced each other too many times to list quickly.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," - Evelyn Beatrice Hall

I had hoped to elegantly land on what steps we can take to try to stop this, but I'm tired so here's what I've got:

• boycott as much as you can the companies implementing government censorship. So canceling Disney, ABC, Hulu, ESPN etc. streaming accounts (scaling back as much as you can) is a good idea. Cancel trips to and reduce your spending at Disney parks and resorts, and on Disney products too. Telling advertisers on any Nexstar, Sinclair and Tegna stations you see that you'll stop buying from the advertisers as long as they buy ads from these companies is a great idea (if you're somewhere you have stations owned by them).
• Tell your federal representatives you want them to work to support the First Amendment and stop the administration from doing this. I find 5 Calls handy for that, or look up your Representative and Senator's contact info directly.
• Refuse to work for these companies (as much as you possibly can) as long as they keep Kimmel off-air and allow the federal government to do this. You'll be in great company, with people like Damon Lindelof already leading the way.
• Protest Disney and these other companies, and also plan to join protests October 18th against the administrations king-like actions.
• Find hope.

The country is too big geographically and the American population too large numerically for potus to control us as he wants to through force alone. He needs people afraid of him and he wants to convince us that we can't stop him. Those are the only ways he can get absolute power.

Not only is he wrong to think he'll prevail (he can and will be stopped) but taking care of yourself and the people you care about actually helps stop him. Our endurance is resistance. In the battle for our hearts and minds, let's not surrender, no matter how tempting it might be to embrace feelings of helplessness. Those feelings may come, but we can let them pass. They're feelings, not facts.

I am writing here, and so far (fingers crossed) the U.S. Federal Government is not pulling down individual websites, yet. So while these words may not arrive at the same number of homes as my network television debut did, and they don't have the help of being created by a whole talented writing and production staff, I hope that I can (or have, and will) entertain you. And maybe I can entertain, inform and maybe inspire too, no matter what happens in the wider world. Thank you, and maybe I'll see if I can make my next post a bit more upbeat.

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© Copyright September 19, 2025, David August, all rights reserved davidaugust.com

David August is an award-winning actor, acting coach, writer, director, and producer. He plays a role in the movie Dependent’s Day, and after its theatrical run, it’s now out on Amazon (affiliate link). He has appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC, on the TV show Ghost Town, and many others. His artwork has been used and featured by multiple writers, filmmakers, theatre practitioners, and others to express visually. Off-screen, he has worked at ad agencies, start-ups, production companies, and major studios, helping them tell stories their customers and clients adore. He has guest lectured at USC’s Marshall School of Business about the Internet.