“You Can’t Say Anything” Comedians Have Nothing to Say About the Government Canceling Jimmy Kimmel

According to the ruling party, comedy is legal now — but only in Austin.

Beginning at some point during President Barack Obama’s second term, there emerged an enormous market for comedy centered around the idea that “you just can’t joke about anything, nowadays.” Feeling marginalized by the growing push on social media and on college campuses to call out comedians who pick the lowest-hanging fruit and punch down on already disadvantaged groups of people, these podcasting superstars sold an “alternative” comedic sensibility that hinged on the idea that comedy itself was under attack, and the only way to fight back against the growing scourge of censorship and “cancel culture” was to sell testosterone boosters and Patreon subscriptions.

Then, last evening, the FCC chairman launched an unprecedented attack on the comedian’s right to offend by publicly intimidating ABC and its affiliates into indefinitely suspending Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the late-night host made some mild jokes about the right-wing establishment’s response to the murder of Charlie Kirk.

Following Kimmel’s suspension, the free-speech enthusiasts of the comedy world looked to such First Amendment defenders as Joe Rogan, Dave Chappelle and Andrew Schulz to see how the comedians planned on fighting back against government oppression, to which the anti-woke, free speech avengers said… nothing.

In the interest of fairness, barely one day has passed since the FCC chairman publicly challenged ABC and its affiliates to “take action” regarding Kimmel’s refusal to regurgitate the White House’s official narrative on the murder of Kirk. The notoriously thorough Rogan may be taking some time to check the facts and formulate his thoughts before chiming in on the federal government publicly silencing his old Man Show co-host.

But considering how all of the most wealthy and successful men in comedy have built the last decade of their careers on the idea that freedom of speech is under attack and comedians are the first targets, isn’t it strange that literally none of them are using their free speech in a time when their voices should matter the most?

Marc Maron certainly thinks so. Just hours after news of the Jimmy Kimmel Live! suspension first broke, the WTF host went on Instagram and called the move a “deciding moment” for free speech in America. “This is what authoritarianism looks like right now in this country, it’s happening,” Maron stated, “So if you’re a free speech warrior, or you really talk the talk about protecting free speech, this isn’t about saying the ‘r-word’ or the ‘t-word’ or any of that, this is government censorship.” 

“This isn’t fucking Twitter, this isn’t people getting ‘canceled’ because of a cultural pile-on,” Maron continued. “This is the United States government silencing voices that they disagree with.”

As such, it’s immensely disappointing but entirely unsurprising that the community of vaguely conservative Manosphere comics, all of whom have amassed massive fortunes by supposedly fighting for free speech in comedy, has collectively decided to keep its mouth shut when it comes to the FCC literally canceling Kimmel for disagreeing with the President. If and when Rogan does speak out, don’t expect anything more critical than some version of “both sides look bad here” in between airing deepfake videos of Minnesota governor Tim Walz on his podcast. 

None of the “free speech warriors” of the Manosphere are interested in a fight with the federal government. But, hey, look! Ricky Gervais wants attention: