Jimmy Kimmel's Monologue Cut Off By Dallas Broadcaster
A television station in Dallas has come under fire for cutting away from an emotional monologue given by Jimmy Kimmel on his show "Jimmy Kimmel Live" in wake of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting massacre.
"WFAA apologizes for technical difficulties that interrupted Jimmy Kimmel Live at multiple points," said the station, Dallas-Fort Worth ABC affiliate WFAA, in a statement Thursday (via Fort Worth Star-Telegram). The response came after Kimmel took to his Twitter page to voice his frustration with the disruption, which came during the May 25 taping of his late-night show. "To my friends in Dallas who are asking: I do not know whether our @ABCNetwork affiliate @wfaa cut away from my monologue tonight intentionally or inadvertently but I will find out," Kimmel tweeted.
The unspeakable tragedy that unfolded in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, May 24, left 21 people dead — including 19 children between the ages of 9 and 11 (via People). The kids were enjoying their last few days of class at Robb Elementary School before summer break when an 18-year-old gunman barged inside and started shooting. Two teachers were also among the deceased. Kimmel, like many other celebrities and talk show hosts, chose to open "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Wednesday with an emotional and poignant message for his viewers in response to what happened. It's what he said during the monologue that has people thinking Dallas ABC affiliate WFAA purposely meant to cut away from the recording.
Kimmel was urging Texas lawmakers to act when the TV station cut his feed
According to local reports, ABC affiliate WFAA cut away from its "Jimmy Kimmel Live" feed right as he was beginning to discuss gun reform and urging Texas politicians to act following the Uvalde shooting (via Fort Worth Star-Telegram). Commercials were instead shown — including a WFAA/Channel 8 news spot — before the feed was eventually brought back on the air at the end of Kimmel's monologue.
"Once again we grieve for the little boys and girls," said the distraught late-night host, with tears in his eyes. "While our leaders on the right, the Americans in Congress and at FOX News and these other outlets warn us not to politicize this. They immediately criticize our president for even speaking about doing something to stop it. Because they don't want to speak about it because they know what they've done and they know what they haven't done. And they know it's indefensible, so they'd rather sweep this under the rug."
Taking aim at Texas Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, as well as Gov. Greg Abbott, Kimmel added, "Our cowardly leaders just aren't listening to us. They're listening to the NRA, they're listening to those people who write them checks that keep them in power. Because that's how politics works."
According to a WFAA statement on its website, the station did not mean to cut away from Kimmel's monologue but was instead impacted by a technical error that caused the first commercial break to air earlier than expected, consequently interrupting the late-night host. WFAA added that this same issue also affected two other commercial breaks, wrapping up its statement by apologizing for the mix-up. Kimmel has since responded to the statement, saying he believes the mistake was unintentional.