Consider: “[Kimmel] told people, including me, that he expected heavy blowback from conservative and pro-Trump voices.” Nevertheless, he persisted. Kimmel will stand strong. He will not be silenced.
Then the Harvey Weinstein story hit. Arguably the most important player in Hollywood had at best harassed, at worst assaulted or raped, young women for decades. Surely this was a moment for Kimmel to stand with women and deliver another one of his impassioned monologues. Instead, according to a recent interview, he said: “that story came out like I think moments before we went to tape on Thursday and we didn’t have a show on Friday.”
Kimmel can’t be expected to react to the news of the day. He apparently needs several hours to work up his consternation at people who abuse women. What’s more, he rebukes the idea that he has any responsibility to do so. Counter to CNN’s claims about him being the conscience of America, he said, “They’re saying that I’m calling myself the moral conscience of America, which I most certainly never did and most certainly never would.” Well, at least we can all agree with Kimmel on that.
Yet on Sunday, Kimmel said on CBS that three years ago he was liked equally by Republican and Democrat viewers, but now his Republican numbers are down by a third. He has no regrets: “as a talk show host, that’s not ideal, but I would...
