PBS News Hour’s weekly Friday segment with New York Times columnist David Brooks and MSNBC host Jonathan Capehart focused exclusively on ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel and the idea that censorship and authoritarianism are big problems. Brooks took a sort of centrist position where he condemned Kimmel and the late night industry as a whole but denounced the suspension, while Capehart warned that authoritarianism is already here, claiming, “We’re in it.”
Moderator William Brangham cued up Brooks by wondering, “I mean, Kimmel suffered the consequences for his comments, but he's not the only one, certainly. There's — USA Today has got a ticker up. I think it's over 100 people already who have been censured or fired for their comments, some of which those comments were grotesque and horrendous, and others were kind of grounded in fact and not inappropriate. Do you think we have just lost this balance between what is truly dangerous speech and what is protected critique?”
Brooks began with the cringe-inducing fire in a crowded theater idea, but also acknowledged private companies have the right to police their employees, “Yes, we have lost the boundaries. I mean, you're not allowed to say — famously, shout fire in a crowded theater. You can't urge people to go kill somebody. Like, if it leads to violence, that should be prohibited speech, and especially if you're a private company and you care about the integrity of your institution. But that boundary has been blurred.”
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