America’s late-night TV hosts have rallied behind fellow comedian Jimmy Kimmel after he was suspended by ABC in a row over comments he made about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
Stephen Colbert began his show by saying “we are all Jimmy Kimmel”, and said the star’s removal was a “blatant assault on freedom of speech”.
Seth Meyers declared it was “a privilege and honour to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend”, while Jon Stewart and Jimmy Fallon tackled the free speech issue by doing satirical sketches in which they were apparently forced to praise Donald Trump.
Their broadcasts came shortly after the US president said the main networks were overwhelmingly negative about him and could have their licences “taken away”.
Anyone with influence need to go on strike. Across every network and every venue. One last video that says, “We are in fascism times. We are going to go off air until democracy is restored, either through the resignation or convicted impeachment of Donald Trump or through Democratic bodies across the United States begin resisting the federal administration.”
We don’t need any more celebrities blowing hot air and being Pikachu faced. We need people who have something to lose being willing to lose it all and standing next to people who already have.
Silencing themselves is counter productive. They need to do the opposite. They need to use their platform to make as much noise as possible.
They can and should protest in other ways, but to sit out is to give the other side what they want, and to squander their ability to affect change.
I’m not saying they should silence themselves. I’m suggesting that they should remove their assets, e.g. in the case of late night hosts, no longer producing content.
The problem with just speaking out is that their corporate overlords still have a product to sell and so long as that exists, they are allowing those overlords who support this fascist asshole to hold power.
While I appreciate your sentiment, it’s important to consider how it will actually play out. Above all else, (nearly) every corporation will take the path that is the most profitable. That will decide each step along the way.
First, ABC will happily replace Kimmel with whomever brings in the money. It might be a full-on Nazi, or it might just be inoffensive Kimmel-lite that won’t rock the boat. The time slot will not simply go empty.
Something similar would happen to Fallon, Stewart, and the rest.
At this point, the influencers begin to lose their influence. They are no longer the voice of a frustrated nation. They become a former voice. Someone that we used to listen to. This is actually where Jon Stewart was for a number of years, and I’m still not convinced he’s regained his influence.
When the voices we need are silent, other voices will rise to the top. By definition, they will not be what we need. They will probably be working against us.
I don’t have a solution to any of this. I’m merely analyzing the problems of one approach.
So those who still have an opposition voice should silence themselves to “own” the fascists? That’s not gonna have any downside, I’m sure. Yes of course leave all the airwaves to the MAGA.
That is the answer! A writer’s strike. Those writers could work on Independent projects just in case the bosses don’t want to compromise. Nobody on the right has any ability to make entertainment unless you count laughing at people getting hurt. Really those independent projects they’re working on while on strike should be published and if they’re popular they should strike out on their own and abandon these corporate parasites that contribute nothing other than controlling the gates, but the internet has many games so fuck them.
Owwww, my balls!
I don’t think networks make much money off those shows. They probably have no incentive to care about a strike.
Every time they negotiate for wages or something they say they don’t make any money off of it, if it was not for those writers nobody would subscribe to their dog shit channels in the first place.