Film And TV
22 Sep 25

U2 defend Jimmy Kimmel and "the right to speak freely" following the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live

U2 defend Jimmy Kimmel and "the right to speak freely" following the suspension of <i>Jimmy Kimmel Live</i>

Photo: Paolo Pellegrin

"In support of the right to speak freely, from left to right, from good to bad to worse," said U2.

U2 have expressed support for Jimmy Kimmel in light of his show being pulled for the air.

The band shared an Instagram post featuring a photo from their 2017 visit to Jimmy Kimmel Live.

"In support of the right to speak freely, from left to right, from good to bad to worse," read the post. "From the not so great to the inspirational…and above all to laughter. Which is the evidence of freedom…."

The show was pulled from ABC, owned by Disney, over comments Kimmel made after the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed on September 10.

During his Monday night show, Kimmel joked about Kirk's suspected killer.

"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.

United States President Donald Trump responded saying, "Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago. So, you know, you could call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”

Other notable late-night TV hosts Stephen Colbert and David Letterman have also defended Kimmel, and have expressed their concerns about free speech under the current administration.

“This is government censorship," said Comedian and podcaster Marc Maron. "This is the Trump administration coming after people who speak out against him.”