U2 are the latest to come out in support of Jimmy Kimmel after his show was hastily pulled from the air.
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Over the weekend, the band shared an image from their 2017 visit to the talk show, captioned: “In support of the right to speak freely, from left to right, from good to bad to worse. From the not so great to the inspirational…and above all to laughter. Which is the evidence of freedom….”
Bono and co. are now the latest in a series of big-name entertainment figures to back Kimmel, whose late night show was pulled from the ABC Network, which is owned by Disney, over comments made after the murder of Charlie Kirk.
Right-wing activist Kirk was shot in the neck and killed at Utah Valley University campus on September 10, and, following the incident, Kimmel said that all signs pointed to Kirk’s shooter being a Trump supporter.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterise this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” he said in his Monday night monologue.
The subsequent fallout saw the show taken off-air indefinitely, a move that sparked a strong response from either side of the political spectrum. While the move to cancel the show has been celebrated by Donald Trump, with whom the host has had a long-running feud, many in the entertainment industry have spoken out against the suspension.
Almost all of Hollywood’s prominent creative guilds have condemned the decision, while fellow late-night legends Stephen Colbert and David Letterman have also spoken out, voicing concerns over free speech.
It is now believed that Kimmel’s business and legal representatives are in discussions with Disney and ABC executives in the hope of reaching a compromise that would allow for the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Comedian and podcaster Marc Maron also criticised the suspension, saying on Instagram: “This is government censorship. This is the Trump administration coming after people who speak out against him.”
Over the weekend, John Cleese and Piers Morgan clashed over the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live after Morgan questioned Kimmel being “heralded as some kind of free speech martyr”.