Comedy Is Legal Again

Last week, when a flurry of right-wing advocates and activists began clamoring for the firing of anyone who was, in their words, “disrespectful” about the tragic murder of Charlie Kirk, there were many of us who said they were going too far. At one point, it seemed as though even the mention of Kirk’s name on social media could result in public pressure on employers.

The two most prominent affected, by my estimation, were Jimmy Kimmel and Karen Attiah.

Kimmel returned to the airwaves tonight, replete with a monologue that pulled no punches against Disney, Brendan Carr, and Trump. It was a moment of celebration for free speech and for pushback against a regime quick to overreach in an effort to expand authoritarian control over our lives.

It’s also important to note how valuable this is for Kimmel’s staff and local businesses. There are a large number of workers whose livelihoods are attached to the production of his show. They matter in this, too.

However, there has been no such movement around Karen Attiah. She lost her job at the Washington Post simply for posting direct quotes from Kirk to her social media accounts: no fanfare, no commentary, just his own words broadcast to her followers.

Karen’s class, which she taught at Columbia, on the intersection between race and media, was canceled. She now offers the same class independently. That class, according to her, has been accumulating students.

Her newsletter is growing, she said, and is the #1 bestseller in Culture. People want to hear from her; she has an audience who will follow her. Her voice resonates, and her experience is valid.

Yet only Kimmel has, thus far, been reinstated.

I believe it’s vital that, in our celebration of Kimmel’s return to the air, we do not lose sight of the marginalized people who were negatively impacted by the actions of these extremists.

We have an opportunity to stand and rise together and use our collective power to unite against rampant authoritarianism in ways that prevent its rise again in the future.

Let us not squander it.