Some Targets Are Easier to Hit than Others

Why Kimmel and Colbert Were Easier Choices to Drop

By LONNIE KING

Last week’s ‘suspension’ of Jimmy Kimmel by ABC caused me to think back to the initial media capitulation earlier this year to the current governmental regime.  And it brought back to the forefront of my mind a reason why some entities make for riper targets than others when the feds go looking for bear.

I believe there’s a reason, or reasons, South Park gets away with a scorched-earth takedown of Donald Trump, CBS, and their new corporate overlords at Paramount—and Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel didn’t.

It’s not just about content.  It’s about control.

And when you look closely, it’s clear: some voices are easier to sideline than others.

🎯 The Corporate Calculation

While the ABC and Paramount episodes are unique, there are also similarities. 

In Colbert’s case, Paramount had been playing a delicate game.

While maneuvering through high-stakes mergers and trying to keep regulators—and powerful politicians—off their back, the last thing they wanted in that process was friction. And friction is exactly what The Late Show with Stephen Colbert delivered almost nightly.

Colbert didn’t just satirize Trump—he dismantled him, piece by piece, joke by joke, with the full force of a live studio audience and an Emmy-winning writing team behind him.

In corporate speak, that’s called a liability.

It didn’t matter that his brand of talk show had been a staple of CBS late night for nearly a decade. He became too pointed, too consistent, and too unignorable—especially during a moment when Paramount wanted as little noise as possible.

Kimmel’s case was similar, in that not-so-veiled threats from the FCC combined with what appeared to be a coordinated effort by media groups Nexstar and Sinclair to feign righteous indignation over one of his monologues to force the network to shut his show down.

🧩 Why South Park Was Untouchable

At almost the same time, in another corner of the Paramount universe, South Park returned with a vengeance in its latest season’s episodes, lampooning Donald Trump as a literal spawn of Satan (with a very specific anatomical punchline) while simultaneously roasting CBS for its $16 million settlement—and jabbing Paramount with Jesus himself delivering the line:

“You guys saw what happened to CBS? Want to end up like Colbert?”

And yet, no backlash. No public scolding. No behind-the-scenes leaks about tensions with the network.

Why?

Because South Park isn’t just a cartoon. It’s a billion-dollar franchise. It’s built into the identity of Paramount+. And perhaps most importantly, its creators—Trey Parker and Matt Stone—have always played the “equal-opportunity offender” card.

They go after everyone, which makes their satire easier to file under “provocative entertainment” instead of “corporate liability.”

It also doesn’t hurt that their irreverence is animated, absurd, and wrapped in just enough plausible deniability to keep corporate from pulling the plug.

🤐 Why The Daily Show Survives (For Now)

Jon Stewart may be back at The Daily Show, but the platform looks different now. It’s part comedy, part cultural commentary, part team effort.

And that structure protects it.

With a rotating cast, shared screen time, and a blend of scripted and unscripted bits, The Daily Show feels less like a soapbox and more like a group chat. Stewart’s name carries weight, but it’s not a one-man show anymore—and that makes it less threatening to execs trying to keep things chill.

In short, it’s easier to manage.

🪓 Colbert and Kimmel Were the Easier Sacrifices

Stephen Colbert, like Jimmy Kimmel, was the brand. Not part of a cast. Not hiding behind animation. Just one very smart, very visible guy in focus on your TV screen saying exactly what he thought, every single night.

And while their audiences are loyal, they’re not necessarily loud or easily mobilized to activism.

Unlike the young, passionate, highly online fanbases of South Park or The Daily Show, Colbert’s and Kimmel’s viewers skew a little older. A little more educated. A little less likely to flood social media with hashtags, organize protests, or crash ABC’s or Paramount’s email servers in outrage.

In short, those shows could be canceled with minimum fallout.

And that’s exactly what makes them both easier targets to aim for.

It’s not that either one said worse things about the current cultural climate in the country. It’s that their departures were less likely to spark a long-term firestorm.

🧠 What This Says About Media in the Trump Era

I think it’s still too early to predict what follows Kimmel’s network demise.  But enough time and attention have passed that we can make at least some assessments about the Paramount situation and Colbert’s fate.

There’s something deeply ironic about the fact that South Park can depict Trump in bed with Satan, ridicule CBS, and make fun of its own streaming boss—and get a raise for doing it.

Meanwhile, Colbert got silenced.

Not because he crossed a line, but because he was too direct and too hard to contain in a moment when silence was safer than integrity.

And until now, presidents and people in power in the United States (no matter their party affiliation) had been fair game for humor and satire. And those leaders and public figures always took the jabs as something that goes along with the territory. But, as should be painfully evident to even his most ardent supporters, this president has no sense of humor, especially about himself.

So, this isn’t just about comedy. It’s about corporate media showing its cards when dealing with a petulant and insecure bully. When push comes to shove, dissent is only tolerated when it’s profitable or ignorable.

Colbert wasn’t either of those. So he had to go.

Grace and grit to you!  — LK