I, like many Americans, seek comfort in Late Night shows (to be clear, I tape them and catch up on Sundays, I don’t stay up until midnight). I learned very early in life that listening to pure, unfettered news is not good for my wellbeing, however I still like to be informed. The perfect solution for me is to watch shows like Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers. They are the perfect blend of news and comedy. I stay informed while I laugh and smile. 

So, the recent cancellations of Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel have been really disturbing. Let’s start with Colbert. Allegedly he was cancelled because he was costing the network money.  Colbert’s show had some of the highest ratings in Late Night Television, but apparently fewer ad slots were being purchased and many were shifting to streaming. It is important to note that at the time of the cancellation, CBS (Colbert’s network) was settling a $16 million lawsuit with the President. Before the cancellation, Colbert had not been shy with his feelings on the President. Many people speculate that this was the President’s demand and if this was actually politically motivated. 

Now let’s talk about Kimmel. He was canceled because of comments he made regarding the horrific shooting of Charlie Kirk. The BBC writes, “the comedian [Kimmel] said Trump and his allies were ‘desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them’ and trying to ‘score political points from it’. He also likened Trump’s reaction to Kirk’s death to ‘how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.’” He was suspended shortly after for inappropriate comments that don’t follow ABC’s policies. It is Kimmel’s job to report the news, give his take, and find a laugh in even the darkest of things. Maybe you don’t think his comments were entirely bad, but he shouldn’t have been kicked off the air for it. Due to the mass amounts of protests, Kimmel was brought back. But, Disney (who owns ABC among many other things), angry about all the cancellations of DisneyPlus subscriptions, raised the price for new accounts (aka people coming back because they weren’t boycotting anymore). 

Both of these cases highlight disturbing violations of first amendment rights and steps to dictatorship. In addition, the president is calling for more cancellations of other late night hosts like Fallon and Meyers. This President is truly afraid of criticism and willing to go to extreme lengths to end all critiques. We aren’t stepping towards dictatorship anymore, we’re running.