The war against late-night hosts highlights the uneven privilege of free speech

America has traditionally protected rich white men, especially if they tell jokes. That is no longer a guarantee

By Carron J. Phillips

Arsenio Hall was pushed out of late-night television long before Bill Clinton ever met Monica Lewinsky. So, forgive me for not losing sleep over how Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel have been treated, especially now that Kimmel has made his return.

However, what isn’t funny—and never has been—is the growing censorship in America, particularly in the media, and the outright attack on free speech--which has always been reserved for a select few and not the many.

For now, America is still a place where you can say whatever you want to say. But, for many of us, there was always a significant risk involved. It seems we’ve reached the point at which the stakes have risen for everyone.

“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” a spokesperson for the Walt Disney Company wrote in a statement to CNN. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

If you’ve lost track, Colbert’s run at CBS is nearing its end. Journalist Terry Moran was let go at ABC News. MSNBC pundit Matthew Dowd was dismissed. Karen Attiah, the last full-time Black columnist in Washington Post opinions, is done in D.C. after she was fired because of her social media posts about Charlie Kirk’s death. From journalists to media members and comedians who host late-night talk shows, your career could end in the blink of an eye if President Donald Trump and his supporters take issue with what you say or post about Trump or Kirk.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a fact, a joke, a quote, or a bit of parody. Anybody who’s not with “them” can get it.

“Ultimately, what happened is Donald Trump got his feelings hurt,” current CNN commentator and former congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said on the company’s airwaves. “And when he gets his feelings hurt, he now uses the government to get his way.”

To highlight the hypocrisy in the right-wing perspective on cancel culture, consider that Fox News’ Brian Kilmeade still has a job after saying that homeless people should be killed for not accepting services offered to them (days later, he apologized). That was one-upped when the sitting president openly took aim at his political foes. “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them,” Trump gleefully said at Kirk’s memorial service this weekend.

This issue is much larger than what a comedian can or cannot say on TV at night. It’s about control and censorship in a country that prides itself on freedom of speech and the First Amendment. The recent experiences of comedians, journalists, and media professionals serve as reminders of who truly benefits from the letter and spirit of the law regarding free speech. Look around; you won’t find a late-night host who represents anyone other than white men. To find an alternative, you would have to watch “Hacks” on HBO, a fictional comedy series about a (white) female comedian who gets to host her own late-night network talk show.

For as much praise as the architects of the Charters of Freedom, it is too easily forgotten that these white men fashioned these liberties for other white men because white men were the only ones allowed to hold power at the time, and they’re still in charge. It’s a testament to the idea that this country was not built on freedom but, rather, white male privilege and power. Slowly, over 200 years, minorities, people of color, and women gained access to these liberties, but they always faced unspoken limits, while white men have engaged in discourse without restriction—until now.

“If they’re telling us ‘we’re not afraid of rich white men,’ what can the rest of us do?” Comedian W. Kamau Bell recently asked at The Atlantic Festival 2025. How “can we expect them to treat the rest of us if we say the wrong thing on social media, or if we make the wrong joke in front of the wrong person? How can we expect that we’re going to get through the day, every day, and be able to live our lives the way we want to, if they’re not afraid of going after the rich white guys?”

I’m glad Kimmel and his team got their jobs back. However, I would be even happier if we lived in a country where the First Amendment protected all rather than merely some.

Jimmy Kimmel’s show won’t be airing on Sinclair- and Nexstar-owned ABC affiliates, as Sinclair demands an apology and donation to Kirk’s family. It’s the perfect summation of this moment, as the death of a man who either infuriated or inspired people and whose entire identity was connected to free speech is the reason why one of the founding principles of this country is at a critical juncture—because people are taking advantage of the same rights he did.

Carron J. Phillips is an award-winning journalist who writes on race, culture, social issues, politics, and sports. He hails from Saginaw, Michigan, and is a graduate of Morehouse College and Syracuse University.

---