Megyn Kelly Bashes Trump’s Calls for Jimmy Kimmel to Be Fired: ‘It’s Very Inappropriate’

Jimmy Kimmel has another free-speech defender: Megyn Kelly, who sharply criticized Donald Trump’s demands for Disney and ABC to fire the late-night host over Kimmel’s roast of Melania Trump as having “the glow of an expectant widow.”

Kelly, on Thursday’s episode of her podcast, “The Megyn Kelly Show,” said she thought Kimmel’s joke “was out of line.” She also said that “ABC set the rules for how we engage in cancel culture. They have lots of examples. They’ve got many scalps on their wall.” For example, ABC in 2018 canceled Roseanne Barr’s sitcom series after she posted a comment on Twitter referring to former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett as looking like the offspring of the “Muslim Brotherhood & Planet of the Apes.”

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Kelly continued, “And if we’re gonna go by ABC/Disney’s standards, then it’s not good news for Jimmy. You know, the standard has to be applied even when the person offended is a Republican. But of course, ABC doesn’t really operate that way.”

All that said, however, Kelly opined that it was wrong for Trump to be demanding any private company fire an employee, especially over free-speech issues.

“He just retweeted again today that he wants Kimmel fired,” Kelly said. “It’s very inappropriate. The president of the United States should not be calling for any private company to fire any employee, especially over free speech.”

Trump on Thursday morning repeated his call for ABC and Disney to fire Kimmel. “When is ABC Fake News Network firing seriously unfunny Jimmy Kimmel, who incompetently presides over one of the Lowest Rated shows on Television?” Trump fumed in a post on his Truth Social account. “People are angry. It better be soon!!! President DJT.”

It’s worth noting that Trump recently blasted Kelly, alongside other conservative influencers including Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens, for opposing the Trump-led war on Iran. Trump called them “NUT JOBS” and “TROUBLEMAKERS” with “Low IQs,” who have “Third Rate Podcasts.”

Meanwhile, on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Thursday, Meryl Streep appeared on the show and sang Kimmel’s praises in the face of Trump’s bullying. “You’re a prince. You are a Knight Templar,” Streep said. “You’re carrying the banner of freedom of the press.”