Reacting to the news that ABC has suspended Jimmy Kimmel, the assembled cast of Wednesday’s Laura Coates Live on CNN did not appreciate the difference between a comedian who pushes the boundary of politically correct discourse and an individual who just happens to have a comedy show spreading falsehoods.
Comedian Pete Dominick made the fundamental category error when he declared, “I mean, it's just really important that people understand that comedy isn't—there is no sacred space. It's comedy. 9/11, cancer, the Holocaust, the worst things, I opened for Joan Rivers. She made the most offensive jokes I've ever heard, and she had a huge following. The market can decide, but this is an attack on the career and integrity of every comedian, writer, and performer. And we have to remain in solidarity and speak out together.”
Kimmel was not suspended for one of his thousands of jokes. He was suspended for a piece of commentary that played with the conspiratorial idea that Charlie Kirk’s killer was a man of the right. There is a big difference between Kimmel saying something conservatives don’t like versus hinting at something that is just not true.
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