Late night comedians have brought laughter with a mix of news and interviews to audiences for decades. Early talk show hosts like Johnny Carson, Dick Cavett, Jack Paar, and Steve Allen were harmless enough that their shows were recorded live. Today, however, the same can’t be said of late night talk show hosts. Take, for example, Jimmy Kimmel Live. What most people don’t know is that there’s nothing live about his show. It’s technically filmed in front of a live studio audience, but the show is taped at 7 p.m. and aired at 12:00 a.m. The show hasn’t recorded live since 2004 because censors ran into a myriad of problems without the ability to edit the comments made on the show. During Game 2 of the 2004 NBA Finals in Detroit, Kimmel suggested that if the Detroit Pistons defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, “they’re gonna burn the city of Detroit down…..” He was referring to the violence that erupted in Detroit after the Tigers won the 1984 World Series. Officials at Detroit’s NBC affiliate WXYZ-TV refused to air Kimmel’s show, and hours later ABC pulled that night’s show from the entire network. During the Oct. 16, 2013 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kimmel held a “Kids Table” segment, inviting 6- and 7-year-old children to discuss the U.S. debt problem, saying, "We owe the Chinese a lot of money, $1.3 trillion. Should we allow the Chinese to live?” Asian Americans were offended and created a petition to the White House, boycotting Kimmel. Finally, in an April 2018 segment, Kimmel made a joke about First Lady Melania Trump’s pronunciation of words while reading to children at an annual White House Easter celebration. The comments offended viewers, who objected to jokes about the First Lady’s accent. Sean Hannity took to the air, calling Kimmel a “despicable disgrace” and an “ass clown.” Kimmel said that his wife and son were subjects of vile death threats as a result of his comments. Now it should be clear why Jimmy Kimmel Live simply cannot be allowed to be……..well…….live.
