Christian Toto everybody.
He writes and podcasts at Hollywood intoto dot com, where you can get entertainment news from a right leaning perspective. And you, guys, are you growing? Do you like more people writing for you now? Or you're just like creating a little empire over there?
It's mostly me on I don't sleep. Yeah, it's really a bad situation. I do some guest writers who chip in from now and then, and which has been really helpful. Honestly, it's been very nice. Yeah, very very nice. I want new perspectives and different ideas and that too, So that's kind of one of the things when I first started the side. I don't want to just be me. It's mostly me, but I want other points of view.
There. Can I write a column written from a cranky, postmen apousal female perspective on how.
Stupid movies are right now? I would love that. Okay, I'm doing it. It's happening. Okay.
Brought Christian in to kind of start doing a deeper dive on the Jimmy Kimmel situation because what I've seen over the past few days, I try not to just sit and roll my eyes completely backward into my head, but it has been so.
Eye roll worthy. Yes, and here's why.
First of all, if the SEC had any direct push motion whatever to get Jimmy Kimmel off the air, I have a huge problem with that, and I said so on my social media, like I hope Jimmy Kimmel Susan wins. We're now starting to hear that it came from affiliates, It came from Sinclair Broadcasting, it came from Next Star Broadcasting, where they said this is not okay, We're not going to air this show. And especially with Nextstar that's who carries the show in a lot of major markets. So
that was pretty much a death blow. What is your take on the firing? First, let's start there. It's complicated.
We don't know if he's fired officially, he's suspended. I don't think he's coming back. There are a lot of different factors here. One in the media is just wildly irresponsible in covering this. I mean between the this is the end of the world coverage, to this is the end of free speech coverage, to ignoring some of the things you just mentioned, and also ignoring the fact that he went on the air and a type of national tragedy. I'm sorry that Charlie kirk death murder was a natural tragedy,
really is. And he said just such an ugly, gross lie, and he just won't apologize, won't backpedal anything. There's something really wrong with that in him, honestly.
Not only that, we now know from reporting today that the ABC brass essentially called him up and said, hey, dude, you got to take the temperature down. And he was going to get back on the air the next night and say, this is just maga people taking what I said out of context?
Are you kidding me?
There's a zero percent chance I heart media would let me back on the airways to do that.
Yeah, And I think that also shows just how far he's gone down the ideological rabbit hole. If I'm his boss, I'm thinking, oh my gosh, he can't even apologize for that latant lie. We want to stay in business with this guy. Yeah, that's another issue as well. It's so interesting And listen earlier that day, I think it was Brendan Carr FC chair was talking about, you know, one way to the other, we should deal with this or something. He's kind of really speaking in a very hyperbolic tone.
To Benny Johnson on The Benny Show, that's no good at all.
That's not I disagree with that.
I don't think that the FCC chairman has any business. Yeah, yeah, no matter what party's in charge. To be clear, I just don't think we have to deal with the FCC. They're already a big enough pain in the ass.
Yeah.
There's also the chance that ABC was just willing to get out of the Jimmy Kimmel business because this contract doesn't have much more time left. Late night is dying. It is a format that is not going to be sustainable for much longer if it is now and if the Late Show with Stephen Colbert is losing forty million a year with bigger ratings than Kimmel, Yeah, is what's going on behind the scenes of Kimmel? And why are these networks even supporting a show that loses gargantuan amounts of money?
That seems crazy? Well, I think that.
I think part of it is an ABC was like, look, they've canceled the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, We're not going to basically the late night space is going to be fundamentally changed. So if we're losing money and I saw the ratings. Someone pulled the ratings eighteen forty nine person's eighteen forty nine, which is the late night demo.
Like, I'm not in the late night demo. I would go to sleep at nine thirty.
He had just cratered over the last few years, so he's not reaching the key demographic. I have to imagine that when And it's my understanding from the article at the Wall Street Journal and CNN that not just the affiliates but advertisers called and we're like, this is not okay.
What do you think about the notion that this in and of itself represents a turning point in the United States, Not in the sense that we're gonna leave the FCC part aside just for a moment, but in the sense that you now have television networks who have been very happy to carry the water, carry the liberal clap trap, unfettered, unchallenged. They have been perfectly fine for how many years. Now, all of a sudden they're like, uh oh, the tone in the country has changed.
It's that plus something more specific, it's the economics of change. Yes, Hollywood is struggling across the board. The two strikes in recent years. You know, Theatrically speaking, they don't make as much money as they used to. Streaming hasn't been as profitable as they thought it was, so it's a revenue problem. I think they could get on their high horse two, three, four, or five six years ago because they were making enough money and everyone was flush with cash. Right now, the
industry is really stumbling along. There are sort of crew members who are really suffering, and I feel the worse for them because that's hard to make a living. And not the Kimmels of the world who were well compensated. It's the Joe and Jane sixpack who are just putting lights on or you know, taping the floor where they stand, that kind of thing. So that's why I think you're seeing the change that's going on right now, because it's not economically sustainable like it once was.
They've gone from fu money to owe money. Yeah, I mean where it is right. I want to point out something yesterday and the Hollywood Reporter there was an article and the headline was something like what Jimy Kimmel said wasn't as bad.
As you thought. Oh, they're trying to spin it. But here's the thing.
People need direct these monologues are not off the cuff, like I sit here for three hours on a day and I just make up crap as I'm going. These monologues are written, they are put on a teleprompter, they are reviewed by multiple people. They have gone through multiple people by the time Jimmy Kimmel reads that on the air.
So this was not a flub.
Not only that it's not live, even though it's called Jimmy Kimmel Live. Yeah, it's taped, so they what's amazing about this whole thing is that there was no one with any sort of ramada. I said, wait a minute, we just said that on the air. He just wrote that when it's completely untrue. The ideological bubble is bulletproof, and there's no lack of diversity. You know, diversity can
be great. You need intellectual diversity. To have someone on the show to say, listen, mister Kimmel, that's completely the opposite of what's going on. We don't we know something things about this killer and that's not what you're saying.
So not only is it not.
A joke, sorry, boss, not a joke, but it's it completely fun.
It's rule.
I mean, yeah, you're pinning the blame on this group who just suffered the loss of their young leader, and you're saying.
They cost it.
I will say that I think that people like Jimmy kimmelar and many on the left have really underestimated the impact of this death. And I said to a friend today, I feel like this radicalized me in some ways where I, of course will not ever advocate or condone violence of any kind. I never have, I never will. But boy, howdy, I'm done being quiet. Yeah, I mean, I'm finished like holding.
My tongue and I'm going to be polite.
But I am no longer going to listen to claptrap and not say anything because I don't want to be bothered.
I'm ready to be bothered.
I guess they shot the guy who went into the belly of the beast time and time and time again, who listened to the other side, who took the worst questions from the other side and smiled and was most likely gentlemanly to the people he was questioning. When you know, when his fans would boo the other people and stuff, he said, no, no, no, let the parson speak, Yeah, let them speak. I mean, it was a crushing blow. There have been radical as a points for me, the Bret
Kavanaugh situation, the Trump shooting. But look at the reaction from people. Look at their reaction. And by the way I wrote about this Hollywood and Toto at the Emmy Awards, would it have hurt them for some person, one person to say in a very apolitical way, that was a terrible thing that just happened. Free speech is what we do for a living. And they just took down a free speech champion and that's wrong. Whether you like his politics or not, that's just the worst thing in the world.
And when I want to, you know, I want to give a shout out to his family and his wife and his two children. This never should have happened in America. That is not political. It's not political. But they couldn't do it. They couldn't muster the cur.
Then they would have gotten nasty looks at the party afterward.
Well, Kristin Chenow, who's a Broadway star and she's on some TV and films, posted me very sweet about the death of Troy Kirk, and she got attacked for.
It and she had to make a response on Instagram. Yeah that's ghoulish. Yeah, I have a bleep you. That's my response. How about can you stick around one second.
I just want to talk about some of the receipts that are being I've got audio from Chris Hayes versus Chris Hayes. We'll do that right after this with Christian Toto. Hey, Rod, give me my computer, please, sir, ABC medi the announcement Chris Hayes. By the way, this is Chris Hayes versus Chris Hayes. First, we're talking about Jimmy Kimmel.
Kimmel would indeed be taken off the air indefinitely. And this is just the latest chapter in Donald Trump's ongoing campaign to crack down on free speech, dominate the media, and essentially render the First Amendment meaningless.
So it was.
And now Chris Hayes versus Chris Hayes on Tucker Carlson being fired.
As for the Journeyman, cable news host Tucker Carlson just fired from his third network. He believed he could say anything.
No matter how vile, no matter.
How disgusting, no matter how offensive, now homor dehumanizing or belittal it. And if you will act like a sociopath over and over and over and over, you will become unpopular on the national stage. That's just like a principle over time.
Now I'm going to stop him right there, because I don't even need to hear. I mean, couldn't you have just said that about Jimmy.
Kimmel yep oh, and the things he has said over the Kimmel saying the people who are unvaccinated and shouldn't get hospital treatment, mocking protesters against the lockdowns who were right by the and by the way, they were just starving because their businesses were dying, while Jimmy kimil could do a show from his home and collect his massive paychecks. He's done a lot of really gross things over the years.
Off the air, we were having a discussion you and I and a Rod about Brendan Carr, and I think Brendan Carr made a really stupid, idiotic choice to go on the Benny Johnson Show and vent his spleen. And I certainly hope that other Trump administration officials would resist the urge to do that, because if he had just said, Hey, ABC, we're gonna find you for letting this go out under the air in this time of national emergency. You got a guy up there spreading this information, we're gonna throw
a fine on you, and nothing had been said. Guess what, kids, The FCC levies finds all the time. Now, would ABC have made the decision then to cut him loose, as many people I know in radio have been cut loose after they got themselves an FCC fine remains me seeing I really believe ABC just decided this was a perfect opportunity.
To cut me.
Yeah, it's except this is late late night television. The revenues, if you look at the numbers, they've been just collapsing, so they're just not making money. The Tonight Show went from five nights a week to four nights in a week. The seth Myers, who is, Oh my gosh, a smuggler like you've never seen. He just I don't know if he have to tell his jokes. It's just it's so it's so coarse. He fire his band because they couldn't afford it.
It's just not it's just not the way it works, like one guy.
To his body, So I can't be critical.
Christian Toto's writing and and all.
Kinds of stuff in his podcasts can be found at Hollywood intoto dot com. And when we get back I've got a lot of text messages who are super salty with me right now, and we're going to talk about that. And Christian is the joy to.
See you as all. It's always a pleasure to be here.
Check his workout, and especially if you're headed to a movie. Anything good on the horizon right now, because I need a good movie and I'm not going to go see him.
There's a big movie coming very soon, one battle after another.
I hate the title.
Dios so good. It's a great director, a great actor. It sounds very political. We may have to come. I meant to go back on the show and talk about it.
Please. I get a little birdie in my week who said that, Yeah, we'll take that anytime.