Jimmy Kimmel censorship debate set to be addressed as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to speak at Senate hearing

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr, who faced bipartisan criticism over his threats concerning Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is set to testify before the Senate Commerce Committee, according to a committee spokesperson.

The Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC and is chaired by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)—an early critic of Carr—will hear testimony from FCC Chair Brendan Carr, though a hearing date has not yet been set. Spokespersons from FCC are yet to share their views on the upcoming hearing. 

Sen. Ted Cruz criticized Brendan Carr after the latter suggested possible regulatory action against ABC and Disney, following Kimmel’s remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk on his show in September that led to his temporary suspension.

“I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying,” Cruz stated in his podcast "Verdict with Ted Cruz," at the time. It took almost a week for Kimmel’s show to return on air.

“I gotta say, that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas.’ That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar, going ‘Nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it,’” Cruz added.

President Donald Trump has applauded Carr on several occasions for his actions prior to Kimmel's suspension. Last month, he told reporters that Carr ought to cancel broadcasters' licenses for negative coverage.

Last month, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) sent a letter to Sen. Ted Cruz, urging him to convene an oversight hearing and press Chairman Carr to account for what she called an unprecedented assault on the First Amendment. " Asked by NBC News at the time whether a hearing with Carr was forthcoming, Cruz said,

“We will certainly engage in oversight of all the agencies within the committee’s jurisdiction.”

Why was Jimmy Kimmel's show taken off air?

Jimmy Kimmel’s show was taken off the air in mid-September 2025 after he made controversial remarks during a monologue about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, accusing “the MAGA gang” of trying to frame the shooter as “anything other than one of them.”

In the aftermath, major ABC affiliate groups including Nexstar and Sinclair pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their stations, citing concerns about his comments.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, publicly urged networks to suspend Kimmel or face regulatory consequences, increasing pressure on ABC and its parent, Disney, before they made the announcement.

Disney and ABC defended the suspension as a measure to “avoid further inflaming a tense situation” and called some remarks “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”

After widespread backlash over free speech concerns, the network reversed the decision and reinstated the show on September 23, 2025, though some affiliates initially continued to block it.

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