Politics Limits the Options and Audience Appeal of Comedians and Corporate Leaders
10/17/25 – – The stakes were high for late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel as he prepared his September 23 opening monologue. With Jimmy Kimmel Live! returning to air after a controversial five-day suspension by ABC, he had a strategic communication decision to make:
What should he say, with the future of his program in jeopardy, to take advantage of this opportunity to appeal to an audience expected to be far larger and more politically diverse than his usual viewer base?
Kimmel’s Kirk Comments Went Too Far
Kimmel had been cancelled when dozens of ABC affiliate stations owned by the Nexstar and Sinclair media groups announced they would be replacing the show with alternative programming. Their actions were in response to what they considered ill-timed and insensitive statements made by Kimmel about Charlie Kirk less than a week after his assassination. Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, explained:
“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr placed extra pressure on Disney-owned ABC when he called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick,” adding, “They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”
Cancellation Ignites Strong Reactions Across Political Spectrum
Conservatives, turned off by Kimmel’s nightly negativity toward President Trump and all things MAGA, welcomed the banishment as long overdue. Progressives (and even some right-leaning politicians and commentators) came to Kimmel’s defense, condemning the punishment as dangerous government censorship.
President Trump chimed in, posting on Truth Social: “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED.”
Former President Obama warned on X: “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent — and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”
Adding to the debate, entertainment industry observers pointed out that audience ratings for Jimmy Kimmel Live! and other legacy late-night talk shows had fallen to unsustainable levels. It was suggested that Kimmel’s cancellation was at least in part an economic decision (the primary reason CBS gave for not renewing The Late Show with Stephen Colbert).
Crafting a Response to Meet a Challenge and Opportunity
So, when ABC suddenly announced Kimmel’s return, it was anticipated that fans and foes, many who had never watched before, would be tuning in. Would he be contrite or combative? Would he make an effort to win over new viewers? Or would he double down on the one-sided political commentary that had contributed to his audience shrinkage?
Preparing his return-show monologue, Kimmel was dealing with a messaging challenge and opportunity experienced by corporate leaders navigating crises. When people are anxious to hear what you have to say, the mindsets of three audience groups must be considered:
- True Believers — people who will be solidly on your side, almost no matter what you’re facing.
- Persuadables — more or less neutral, uncommitted people who will be open to judging you based on what you tell them and your shared priorities.
- Hardened Haters — the folks who will, in the words of Taylor Swift, never, ever, ever support you. Even if hell freezes over.
I counsel clients to focus on the first two groups:
- Inform and reinforce the support of your True Believers (consider them to be your base).
- Reach out to and align your story as much as possible with the Persuadables (they are the undecideds who can move public opinion in your direction).
- Show respect for but don’t waste time with the Hardened Haters (you have little chance to satisfy or win them over).
A Lost Opportunity
The optimistic audience predictions came true. Averaging 1.6 million nightly viewers in the second quarter of 2025, Jimmy Kimmel Live! attracted an audience of 6.2 million on September 23. I’m sure ABC and Disney were hoping more than a few persuadables had tuned in.
Kimmel started off pretty well, dismissing the hardened haters and appealing to persuadables:
“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
He appropriately played up his censorship defense, which had broad appeal, but then returned to full attack mode on President Trump:
“He tried, did his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this now.”
For the rest of the show, Kimmel rewarded true believers for staying with him, but offered very little balance or reason for newcomers to tune in again. His message should have been: “Thanks for being on my side of this government censorship battle . . . now here’s a sampling of the entertaining, funny stuff we do every night on Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Within days, the live audience was back down below 2 million. Recent headlines tell the story:
- Yahoo: “J K L Ratings Tank Just Days After the Late-Night Show Returns to ABC”
- Fox News: “Jimmy Kimmel sheds 85% of key viewers since comeback show”
- Reddit: “Jimmy Kimmel’s Post-Suspension Ratings Boost Has Evaporated”
- New York Post: “J K’s short-lived ratings spike comes to screeching halt”
Leaving the Door Open for Persuadables
Maybe it’s unrealistic to think that Jimmy Kimmel ever had a chance to attract persuadables without enraging his true believers. Betraying his base would have left Jimmy Kimmel Live! in even hotter water with ABC, its affiliates and advertisers.
Kimmel’s political slant had left him unable to plow common ground . . . the space where persuadables still can be found.
There’s an important lesson here for corporate leaders: In today’s toxic political environment, shrinking the available pool of persuadables by becoming too aligned with the right or the left makes it almost impossible to grow your consumer base or defend yourself in the eye of a reputational storm.
If you need another reason to stay out of the briar patch of politics, keep Jimmy Kimmel’s missed opportunity top of mind. Leave the door open for persuadables to tune in to you.
Crisis Quotient Blog 