Pat Boone Just Said What Everyone Is Thinking About Jimmy Kimmel

Townhall 

Actor and singer Pat Boone had some words of wisdom for alleged comedian Jimmy Kimmel amid controversy over his lies about the individual suspected of assassinating Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk.

In a video posted on TikTok, the 91-year-old entertainer praised  Kimmel, saying he has “spent many hours enjoying your wit and your ability to interview and interact with almost anybody except Brad Pitt, for some reason.”

Boone then stated that Kimmel and fellow late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert “have increasingly abused your freedom of speech” because they believed they “could infect the airwaves and the consciences of millions of watchers without regard to their differing and actually opposite views and beliefs.”

“While networks and sponsors were paying you millions to entertain, amuse, and help them in their days feeling good, you've chosen to infect and insult the intelligence, strongly held political views, and convictions, and increasing instances, actual facts, with your very personal freedom to say whatever you want on the public airwaves,” Boone said.

“Well, you still have that precious freedom, Jimmy, and I'm sure you're still vehemently employing it to anybody who wants to hear what you have to say right now,” the actor continued. “But say whatever you choose to Bill Maher or Howard Stern or other programs whose sponsors profit from and share your views. But learn that networks and sponsors who pay dearly to reach viewers who don't share your views and are seriously offended by them.

Boone affirmed that Kimmel is “still perfectly free” to say anything he wants, but “freedom isn’t free, as you’re finding out shockingly.”

He explained that “There is a responsibility that comes with it and consequences from its misuse, and that’s why it’s so precious.”

Boone concluded, “So shout, shout on. Speak your views publicly in the streets without fear. But don’t expect to be paid millions when you bite the hand that feeds you.”

Disney and Kimmel are currently in talks to see if both parties can come to a compromise to bring “Jimmy Kimmel Live” back to ABC, according to Variety. This comes after the show was taken off the air when Kimmel lied about Kirk’s alleged assassin, deceptively claiming the suspect was a right-winger when all available evidence shows he was on the left.

Insiders have noted that there is no guarantee that Kimmel will return to the airwaves. Kimmel has remained silent on the matter, but behind the scenes, sources claim he was “livid” about his predicament.

There has been much debate over Kimmel’s removal and the role FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is believed to have played in his situation. The chairman suggested that there could be regulatory consequences if ABC refused to address the matter, which has elicited criticism from those saying it is a violation of free speech.

Boone absolutely nailed it. His take was probably the best I’ve seen on this controversy so far.

Of course, Kimmel has the right to say whatever he wants. He absolutely should speak his mind — even though he’s clearly full of it most of the time. But it is ridiculous to expect to be able to blatantly lie to his audience to promote a political agenda and expect that advertisers and companies will still want to associate with him.

But in one respect, I can’t blame him. Kimmel has been nothing more than a feckless hack for at least a decade. He got away with it then, so why wouldn’t he now? But the mistake he made was failing to read the political tea leaves and see that times are a-changin’ and that there is less demand for that type of claptrap. After all, there is a reason why Kimmel’s ratings dropped by 40 percent over the past ten years, isn’t there?