Jimmy Kimmel: Free Speech Warrior or Biased Propagandist

TOP LINE

As we go to press, President Trump, senior administration officials, Elon Musk and others honored Charlie Kirk.  The impactful conservative voice was silenced on September 10 by a single gun shot to the neck.

According to court documents, the suspect is Tyler Robinson whose boyfriend was transitioning from male to female.  In widely reported text messages, Robinson does not identify as MAGA. 

Despite the publicly available law enforcement and court records, comedian Jimmy Kimmel implied in his September 15 monologue that Robinson was MAGA and conservatives were desperately trying to claim otherwise. 

The response to Kimmel’s monologue was explosive across the political spectrum. ABC, the network that broadcasts his show, suspended Kimmel indefinitely.    

While Kimmel has been lionized in some quarters as a free speech warrior, others characterize him as a biased propagandist.

Was Kimmel actually hit by the Karma bus?

To answer these questions, a good investigation follows the money.

DEEP DIVE

Kimmel was exercising his First Amendment rights to free speech when he gave his monologue on September 15.   While the monologue was nearly 20 minutes in length, this segment went viral:

 “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Free speech protects speech we like. It protects hateful speech that makes us uncomfortable and it protects speech we disagree with.  

While Kimmel, like all Americans, is free to say what he wants, when he wants and how he wants, free speech also means taking responsibility for your words.   Words have consequences, especially on a nationally televised broadcast.

In Kimmel’s case, there is a persuasive argument that the comedian was vulnerable before Monday’s controversial monologue.  A thoughtful and thorough investigation follows the money and that rule applies here.

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According to the most recent Nielsen ratings which measure the size of the audience as well as the 18-49 demographic coveted by advertisers, Kimmel averaged 1.77 million total viewers during the second quarter of 2025 and 220,000 viewers in the all important 18-49 demo.    

Since 2015, a decade ago, reports indicate Kimmel’s overall audience has shrunk from 2.4 million. In the coveted demographic for advertisers, it has dropped a stunning 72 percent.

NOTE: The 18-49 year old demographic is valuable to advertisers because the group has sizable discretionary income and it’s an opportunity to lock in younger viewers’ brand loyalty.   Advertising rates are set based on the ability of a show to draw this audience.

The shifting media landscape from broadcast TV, to Cable and now platforms like X and YouTube is quicksand for late night TV. NBC and CBS late night broadcast programs have also seen significant declines. 

For context on viewership among the emerging platforms, our last investigation on X into the 9/11 terrorist attacks drew 2.6 million engagements. That’s more than Kimmel’s liner TV audience.  Based on X user data, the coveted demographic is likely larger as well.

According to GROK, Elon Musk’s AI tool, more than a third of X users (36.6%) are between 25-34.  This is closely followed by the 18-24 age group at 34.2% It’s clear that younger viewers coveted by TV advertisers have migrated to platforms like X. 

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