By News Editor 
Jimmy Kimmel was fired last week after questioning Donald Trump’s grieving process due to the death of an influential right wing extremist on a Utah college campus. Trump and his allies subsequently spun the story to imply mockery at the shooting victim, consequently pressuring the parent company of ABC to fire Kimmel. The fallout, however, was likely more severe than expected by Disney.
Even opponents of Kimmel, like Tucker Carlson and contemporary rivals for viewership, Joe Rogan, lamented the censorship. This interesting cross section of mild solidarity may have been enough to factor over the pragmatic calculations of Disney.
Back Pedaling
On Tuesday, Jimmy Kimmel had his show restored by Disney. Kimmel used his return monologue to highlight how the firing was a result of Trump and his FCC board member pushing censorship. The joke in question poked fun at the president’s lack of a grieving process.
While freedom of speech won in the American public sphere, the corporate tendency to preemptively self-censor and avoid the wrath of Trump is alive and well. Disney’s direct relationship with mass consumer behavior and opinion probably led to the reversal. Other places, not so much. We can observe more measured firings throughout the media landscape as a result of administration pressure.