Bill O’Reilly calls "BS" on the freedom of speech debate, says it was concocted to make Jimmy Kimmel "a victim" and Trump "a villain"

On Monday, September 22, Bill O'Reilly sat down with News Nation's Leland Vittert for an episode of On Balance, where the host spoke about the Jimmy Kimmel controversy. 

Bill O’Reilly just RIPPED APART Jimmy Kimmel’s “freedom of speech” battle as nothing but BS.

He turned the tables with one brutal fact that blows the left’s entire narrative to pieces:

“Look, this [Trump v. Kimmel] story is bogus… The story is that Disney and Kimmel, for THREE… pic.twitter.com/gBN1FTewrp

— Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) September 23, 2025

When Vittert asked O'Reilly if he thought Kimmel was going to apologize to Charlie Kirk's family over the controversial remark he made about his killer last week, he said "no." He then went on to point out that the viewpoint from which Kimmel's temporary exit from ABC was seen was "bogus," adding:

"The story is that Disney and Kimmel, for THREE YEARS, would not put on a non-liberal voice on his program. You talk about no freedom of speech and expression? That story has been totally ignored. And it’s not just ABC. It was CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN. Okay? They will not put any non-liberal voice on the air."

Further in his answer, Bill also spoke about his own history of appearances on all of these late-night shows before Trump's return to the White House earlier this year, claiming he was invited to them because of the high ratings he brought. He continued, saying: 

"This whole freedom of speech BS is coming from the far left to make Kimmel a victim and to make Trump a villain when... they have BANISHED all traditional conservative thought and discourse on all of their programs. All of them… They don’t want non-liberal voices. That is Putin stuff!"​

Bill O'Reilly called Jimmy Kimmel a "bitter comedian" last week

Bill O'Reilly's latest statement on Jimmy Kimmel comes almost a week after the political commentator joined Chris Cuomo last Wednesday. O'Reilly appeared to be saddened at the news of Kimmel's show being axed at the time. 

He also went as far as to call him "a gentleman" and claim that the two had built a "good rapport". Further praising him as a father, Bill said:

"I admire Jimmy Kimmel because of the travails of his young son, which he doesn’t publicize much, but he is a hero dad. So when I saw this today, I was sad. I didn’t celebrate it like some people did. I don’t like people losing their jobs."

O'Reilly also pointed out that Jimmy Kimmel changed after Trump gained power, saying:

"Mr. Kimmel changed into more of a bitter comedian, and I noticed it."

Bill then delved deeper into Jimmy Kimmel's remarks over Charlie Kirk's killer being a MAGA supporter, mentioning that the late-night host had tried to "mislead the entire country" by implying that. 

He also added that the controversy wasn't about censorship but about responsibility, calling Kimmel's words "outrageous" and "defamatory".