Shortly after having to pull out of hosting his talk show because he tested positive for COVID, Jimmy Kimmel took a different approach with his monologue on Wednesday night. Instead of the traditional way of joking about objective news with an indoor audience, Kimmel chose a pre-recorded soliloquy inside a mostly empty studio, where he shared his emotional response to the tragic elementary school shooting that occurred on Tuesday, May. 24, and 19 dead Texas children. However, not everyone in the country saw Kimmel’s emotional rendition, as a local ABC affiliate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area unexpectedly broke into the monologue, clearly causing an uproar with Kimmel and his fan base.
Jimmy Kimmel took Social media Wednesday evening, after being alerted to the fact that the WFAA affiliate had broken with the telecast in the middle of the monologue, he shared this message (with video link):
To my Dallas friends who ask: I don’t know if @wfaa’s @ABCNetwork interrupted my talk tonight on purpose or not, but I’ll find out.
Given how sensitive a school shooting in the United States has ever been, or inspiring emotions to reach their climax everywhere, viewers would arguably be skeptical about a Texas-based network affiliate distancing itself from the monologue in which Jimmy Kimmel criticized the state and its political bodies. But WFAA Director of Digital Content Pete Friedman responded to the talk show host’s message on Twitter With limited explanation:
We made the decision earlier today to extend the 10 o’clock news to include *additional* coverage of Uvalde in our broadcast, and it has nothing to do with your monologue. We are on the same team. 🤝
Not everyone was impressed by Friedman’s reasoning, stating that extending previous coverage wouldn’t interrupt Jimmy Kimmel’s clip in the middle. But the station itself offered more explanation, tweeting an apology to Kimmel and viewers for what happened, and advising curious parties to read her full explanation. On her website. Here’s how the station’s top officials put it:
Jimmy Kimmel Live! It was broadcast live after our newsletter. Unfortunately, the automated system that triggered the commercials accidentally broadcast the first commercial hack, which led to Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue being interrupted. The same technical glitch also affected two commercial periods later in the show, not just the monologue boycott. WFAA apologizes for this error.
Obviously, there wasn’t as much concern about the other impromptu trade breaks that disrupted the later points in Jimmy Kimmel Live!episode. But the reason the WFAA claims makes sense, if it is legitimate. Obviously, the timing couldn’t be worse.
Previous man show host, from Paved the way for Joe RoganHe has always had a public feud with Texas Senator Ted Cruz, and has been more active over the years in portraying prominent political figures than he has in launching friendly attacks even on fellow talk show hosts. One cannot imagine that will stop after the tragedy of the mass shootings in Uvald, whose compatriot Matthew McConaughey also shared an emotional public appeal.
Because of the shooting at Uvalde Elementary, CBS’ FBI This week’s planned season finale, which included a school shooting, has been postponed, while other shows and projects have modified or canceled planned promotional events.
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