John Oliver reacts to Kimmel’s suspension with a direct message to Disney’s CEO

John Oliver joined other late night hosts showing support for Jimmy Kimmel on Sunday after Jimmy Kimmel Live! was “indefinitely suspended” by ABC, following comments the host made about the right’s reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder.

Oliver starts by going through exactly what happened and criticising the tactics used by Trump-appointed FCC chair Brendan Carr, who threatened to punish ABC and parent company Disney over Kimmel’s comments during a podcast appearance shortly before the suspension.

To conclude, Oliver speaks directly to Disney CEO Bob Iger, encouraging him to stand up to bullies and “draw a line.”

“Hi Bob,” says Oliver. “We haven’t met, but you probably know me as America’s third favourite Zazu. Congratulations on recasting that role by the way, it was a fun thing to learn about after the fact. Anyway, one day the history of the time we’re living through is going to be written. And when it is, I’m not sure it’s those in this administration who are even going to come off the worst. Now don’t get me wrong, they’re going to come off terribly, but history’s also going to remember the cowards who definitely knew better, but still let things happen — whether it was for money, convenience, or just comfort.

“I know this is something of a tough sell, and it can be a bit of an anathema to risk-averse business leaders. But I will say this: If we have learned nothing else from this business administration’s second term so far — and I don’t think we have — it’s that giving the bully your lunch money doesn’t make him go away, it just makes him come back hungrier each time. They are never going to stop, they literally said that openly. After Kimmel’s suspension, Trump posted: ‘That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!’ And Carr has hinted that The View might be next. The fucking View.

“Look at some point, you’re going to have to draw a line. So I’d argue, why not draw it right here? And when they come to you with stupid, ridiculous demands, picking fights that you know you could win in court, instead of rolling over why not stand up and use four key words they don’t tend to teach you in business school? Not ‘OK, you’re the boss,’ not, ‘Whatever you say goes,’ but instead the only phrase that can genuinely make a weak bully go away, and that is: ‘Fuck you. Make me.'”