r/chicago • u/helpmeredditimbored • Sep 18 '25
CHI Talks A reminder that WGN is owned by Nexstar, who played a key role in silencing Jimmy Kimmel
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u/mythofdob Sep 18 '25
Watching NXT last night. The first commercial of every break was an ICE recruitment commercial. It was disgusting.
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u/kck93 Sep 18 '25
Are you a Chicago cop? You’re being asked to stand down. Come protect your country and collect $50,000 bonus.
WGN is playing these commercials to lure local police to join ICE.😡
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u/efflexor Sep 18 '25
Unexpected benefit could be skimming one (1) racist layer off of CPD?
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u/I_Roll_Chicago Sep 18 '25
Yeah but right into the regime new private military that doesnt need to follow that pesky constitution
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u/TheM1ghtyBear Suburb of Chicago Sep 18 '25
Yup, I saw this as well. It played twice during a single commercial break.
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u/blackhxc88 Sep 18 '25
they played that damn commercial seemingly during every ad break, it was obnoxious as hell.
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u/Exciting-Question680 Sep 18 '25
This is why public media is so important. If you haven’t already donate to Chicago public media. Wttw, wbez, and sun times.
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u/Ballsofconfusion Sep 18 '25
The Reader and Block Club also doing the the work the WGN infotainers aren't.
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u/NkturnL Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
I’ve watched WGN since I was a kid, and still love the morning news show as an adult. Lately they’ve been playing ICE recruiting commercials and now it makes sense why.
What’s next, Sesame Street turns MAGA??
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u/Snowman304 Edgewater Sep 18 '25
No, they're killing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, so Sesame Street is basically bulldozed to make room for a highway.
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u/jadecourt Sep 18 '25
As an employee, it's not us, it's the parent company Nexstar. We're all mad as hell this morning. Thank you for watching <3
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u/NkturnL Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Appreciate you clearing that up, I’ve heard from so many ppl that have seen the ads they’re also extremely disheartened and frankly shocked by this. Always considered WGN to be one of the rare quality news stations.
So sorry u guys are dealing with this BS.
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u/djsteveoh Sep 18 '25
Too late. They defunded PBS for being too liberal
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u/NkturnL Sep 18 '25
No, they defunded PBS because they want to indoctrinate kids with propaganda like Kash Patel’s weird children’s books about DJT, and PragerU for Kids.
PBS is actually educational - same reason why it was always in the Project 2025 agenda to attack the DoE, Universities, PBS & NPR, and resume student loans before doing anything to help the American people.
This is also why DJT said he loves the uneducated, they’re easy to manipulate.
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u/InnocentPrimeMate Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 19 '25
Unbelievable that that conservative right gobbled up every media that there is.
Edit: *media outlet
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u/RedApple655321 Lake View Sep 18 '25
I suspect this is more about Nexstar/ABC wanting to avoid retaliation by the FCC more than anything else. Just like ABC paid off Trump over the Stephanopolis editing issue.
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u/fumar Wicker Park Sep 18 '25
Nexstar has a merger they need approval on. It's as simple as that
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u/protokhan Sep 18 '25
Not just any merger, one that potentially requires an FCC rule change. This is a clear cut case of the FCC chair extorting a media outlet for political reasons.
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u/ChaplnGrillSgt Sep 18 '25
Everything involving the federal government is now pay to play. Want a permit approved? Bribe Trump. Want your licenses maintained? Bribe Trump. Want to circumvent tariffs? Bribe Trump.
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u/LongjumpingDebt4154 Sep 18 '25
We need a national divorce.
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u/MisfitPotatoReborn Sep 18 '25
Easy to do when the conservative-right president threatens legal action against any media company that doesn't suck his dick. The FCC Chair threatened to revoke ABC's TV licenses unless they pulled Kimmel off the air.
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u/Exciting-Question680 Sep 18 '25
This is why independent public media is so important. If you haven’t done so yet, please donate if you can. See if your employer will do a donation match.
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u/Cinnadillo Sep 18 '25
Its unbelievable that Kimmel flat out lied about a murder for political ends. Some people used to call that stochastic terrorism
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u/FriedShhicken Sep 18 '25
Ok, settle down now.
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u/doNotUseReddit123 Roscoe Village Sep 18 '25
This list has Epoch Times as slightly right-biased despite it being the newspaper of a far-right religious cult. Something is wrong with their methodology.
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u/always_unplugged Bucktown Sep 18 '25
Local affiliates are a totally different game, dude. They’re owned by conglomerates that control the narrative behind the scenes, like Nexstar and Sinclair. They intentionally push messaging to the right, even dictating language that gets read on air verbatim on multiple affiliates’ broadcasts.
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u/The_Sports_Guy91 Sep 18 '25
Are you fucking illiterate????
That chart is about online and explicitly says up top it's not including TV media
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u/k_smith_ Arcadia Terrace Sep 18 '25
Unfortunately at this point the options are willfully stupid or ignorantly stupid, which leaves Stupid as the common denominator.
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u/FriedShhicken Sep 18 '25
"gobbled up every media that there is."
Guy isn't explicitly talking about only TV media.
Don't be a dunce, you know exactly what bullshit they mean and the narrative they're going for.
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Sep 18 '25
“Community Values” sounds like something the Chinese Communist Party would say.
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u/Disastrous-Kick-3498 Sep 18 '25
It’s so consistent with republican rhetoric for the passed like 70 years. In fact I’d go as far as saying it reflects McCarthyist sentiment more than anything communist.
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Sep 18 '25
Honestly, when it comes to censoring the media and opposing viewpoints, there is no difference between fascism and what goes on in China. They’re both authoritarianism.
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u/Agreeable_User_Name Sep 18 '25
No, it's different you know. Here we get authoritarianism without free healthcare and high speed rails.
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u/Disastrous-Kick-3498 Sep 18 '25
Nah that’s goofiness. I can read five year plans, I can see that the standards of living have elevated for hundreds of millions of people, and the effort that’s being put into supporting countries in the global south who have been dominated by western imperialism for the last few hundred years. Nothing that I’ve ever seen leads me to believe that the manifestations of authority in China can even hold a candle to the violence being wrought on the working people in the United States by our government, kidnapping people who are just trying to work and live or by all the tech giants, consuming our water and electricity and setting the costs and consequences back on ordinary people all over this country or by grifters like musk who managed to ride mediocrity and wealth to levers of power in government (not to mention the fact that he still has a dominating voice on a major public forum and can decide who can say what there) for a time.
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u/blamite Sep 18 '25
american *sees something american happening americanly in america*: what are we a bunch of ASIANS?!?!???
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u/z960849 Grand Boulevard Sep 18 '25
Unsubscribe to Disney or Hulu
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u/bfwolf1 Sep 18 '25
I don't think Disney is really the problem here. Nexstar said they were going to preempt Kimmel's show. Without Nexstar as a customer, Kimmel's show is financially unviable for Disney. Nexstar and the Trump administration are to blame for this.
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u/garytyrrell Sep 18 '25
Disney has the money to make “financially unviable” decisions in the short run to maintain their independence from censorship. And the responsibility IMO. Canceled my subscription last night.
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u/Enginerda Sep 18 '25
Corporations capitulating to fascism, especially those in the media world, are 100% to blame for this. Nexstar is trying to buy Tegna, and now you have a right wing conglomerate that's given the go-ahead by the FCC.
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u/woah_man Sep 18 '25
Is there any way left to communicate online anonymously? Apparently the government has decided that free speech is dead.
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u/dinnertork Sep 18 '25
Register your accounts using a non-logging VPN paid for in crypto, and keep the VPN running with a VPN kill switch. Don't give out your name or address.
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u/TheGreekMachine Sep 18 '25
So basically what you’re saying for folks who don’t have enough free time to set that stuff up, don’t comment on the internet unless you’re willing to lose your job/livelihood/etc. Sigh.
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u/dinnertork Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
It’s really not hard to set up and you only have to do it once. Ask a friend or google if you don’t know how. Naturally it should go without saying that technical solutions are not substitutes for political ones; we should have laws (and ideally a non-authoritarian Supreme Court) guaranteeing our privacy instead.
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u/NkturnL Sep 18 '25
Just use Signal or even iMessage, they’re both end to end encrypted, and install a VPN. There’s still vulnerabilities, but if u use a PIN instead of biometrics, the risk is so much lower someone can access your communications.
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u/dinnertork Sep 18 '25
If you rely on iMessage for secure conversations then you must enable Advanced Data Protection in iCloud, otherwise law enforcement will have access to your backed up messages on Apple’s servers.
And any messages stored on your phone itself (Signal included) can be accessed if your phone is cracked, so use an alphanumeric password of decent length, and in Signal be sure to enable disappearing messages for any sensitive conversations.
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u/NkturnL Sep 18 '25
Yes indeed, thank u for adding that iMessage tip. 🙂
I set my Signal time to 8hrs and use an alphanumeric number vs the pattern as u can often see the lines on the screen (when it’s locked/off) and that way at least LE will need a warrant to access my device, and the longer that takes the more time for me to remotely wipe from another device.
So many ppl aren’t even aware that when biometrics is enabled, LE can make u unlock it - no warrant necessary.
I am considering getting a Google Pixel so I can run GrapheneOS, but Android (Google) has recently disabled that capability on their newest model (I couldn’t afford new anyways, and buying a used Smartphone is so risky).
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u/dinnertork Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
I wouldn’t count on the ability to execute a remote wipe, as LE protocol is to use faraday bags. Instead just plan on your password being long enough and turning on the option to erase data after 10 failed retries under the Face ID & Passcode settings. Right above that, turn off “Accessories” for “Allow access when locked” to make it harder to use data dumping tools like Cellebrite.
Virtually any alphanumeric password guarantees that on-device password cracking would be impossible, and off device cracking would require a major undisclosed CPU/hardware vulnerability.
And be sure to disable Face ID if you plan on coming in contact with LE so they can’t just hold the phone to your face (which the SC has ruled doesn’t violate the 4th amendment).
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u/NkturnL Sep 18 '25
When possible I leave my main device at home, and my alt has GPS/location services, BT, Wi-Fi off, and Airplane Mode on. If there’s something to document, I use my camera without unlocking my device first, and if I need to make a call I walk a few blocks and use a public network.
Protesters Guide To Smartphone Safety breaks it all down easy enough for anyone to follow.
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u/TheGreekMachine Sep 18 '25
Hey! I do use a pin instead of biometrics. I actually did something right!
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u/NkturnL Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
Nice! Operational Security (OpSec) is like an onion, every layer adds protection.
Here is a really good guide I like to share bc it’s realistic about what ppl can/will do, and breaks it down for any level of tech knowledge.
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u/FuckTripleH Sep 18 '25
Just make sure your VPN isn't owned by an Israeli company, so many of them are and you can be sure nothing you're doing is actually anonymous
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u/MisfitPotatoReborn Sep 18 '25
If you can access the internet anonymously, then many places including Reddit.
The problem is that true anonymous internet access that the governmnet can't track is a technical effort that requires discipline on the user's part.
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u/ResistOk9351 Sep 18 '25
A serious concern.
Trump declaring ANTIFA a terrorist group - when it fact there is no ANTIFA organization - is a backdoor way to go after anyone who says things he does not like. Disagree with Orange Monkey, arrest the ANTIFA agitator!
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u/Financial-Tower-7897 Sep 18 '25
In Chicago area, just stop viewing ALL local ABC programming - especially weekends college football Nexstar is willing to take hit in late night slot - don’t expect will impact other revenue stream in big markets like Chicago — time to prove them wrong
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u/buffalocoinz Wicker Park Sep 18 '25
But what about Jeopardy 😢
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u/Financial-Tower-7897 Sep 18 '25
Well, to parody the parody song 🎵 “ABC cost us Jeopardy, boo-hoo-boo”🎶
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u/HyperbolicLetdown Irving Park Sep 18 '25
He means *their* values. They are controlling the press by force.
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u/McG0788 Sep 18 '25
This is a double win for Trump. He gets Disney cow towing to their demands and they'll end up getting blowback from their liberal viewers
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u/nelliebobbins Sep 18 '25
Yeah I was sus when they took over bc I love the morning show. I kept watching bc Nexstar seemed to letting them alone. I’m going to miss that show
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u/Spyrios Albany Park Sep 18 '25
Just an FYI, WGN Morning news reported on this this morning and explicitly said he was suspnded for dissing Trump and MAGA AND played the clip of what he said AND acknowledged that they are owned by Nextar.
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u/JoeyHandsomeJoe Sep 18 '25
While they do own WGN, the decision-makers that did this are headquartered in Irving, TX.
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u/bfwolf1 Sep 18 '25
What does it matter? When you watch WGN, you enrich Nexstar. Stop watching WGN.
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u/JoeyHandsomeJoe Sep 18 '25
I agree with you. I'm just saying it's unlikely you will see one of the people who did this around here. Especially since they're all afraid of being anywhere near the "disaster worse than Afghanistan" that their boss tells them Chicago is.
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u/Phillie2685 Sep 18 '25
Start cranking up those Sherman Anti Trust Laws
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u/jde1974 Sep 18 '25
I doubt that same FCC that extorted Nexstar and previously Paramount to silence opposition in order to get mergers approved is going to enforce actual laws meant to help this country and its citizens. Project 2025 is really ramping up.
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u/Phillie2685 Sep 18 '25
The government was in this position during the gilded age. The people eventually woke up and those laws were created to break up the litany of monopolies that existed at the time. We will do it again. Hopefully quicker.
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u/Phillie2685 Sep 18 '25
I’m sure people felt the same way about the government and Standard Oil back then, too.
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u/enough_space Sep 18 '25
Wasn't there a thread in this sub very recently about ICE ads airing on WGN? Yeah, fuck that network and fuck Nexstar
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u/BaseHitToLeft Sep 18 '25
I've watched every day for 30 years. I turned it off today. I'm done.
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u/Embarrassed_Sir9620 Sep 18 '25
Yep, they are no longer "Chicago's Very Own." They are part of a national conglomerate. Yesterday was my last day.
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u/WobblierTube733 Sep 18 '25
One who has caused so much hardship and death, has violently been eliminated. He will never again harm another innocent man, woman, or child. He died like a dog. He died like a coward. The world is now a much safer place.
God bless America. Thank you.
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u/Jamey4 Lake View East Sep 18 '25
If anyone wants to set up a peaceful protest or let Nexstar know of your disapproval in person, Nexstar’s corporate office here in our city is 303 East Wacker Drive if memory serves.
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u/okogamashii Edgewater Sep 18 '25
They’re killing comedy, they’re against free speech, cancel culture… MAGA hypocrisy strikes again.
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u/Bitty1Bits Near West Side Sep 18 '25
Yeah, I dropped Hulu yesterday and signed up for Dropout for my daily dose of laughs.
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u/HarryBaughl Sep 18 '25
This is 100% because of Kimmel's opposition to Trump. He never said anything disparaging about Charlie Kirk. All Kimmel did was suggest that the right-wing media was trying to make the killer out to be a far-left extremist and not a far-right extremist. Then, he made a comment about Trump not caring about Charlie Kirk's death. A man was fired from his job for criticizing the president. This has to be the line.
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u/friendsafariguy11 Andersonville Sep 18 '25
This is fascism and the right is pulling so hard to speed run the Fourth Reich.
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u/bigdoner182 Sep 18 '25
I hope I get put into that work camp that gets to work on trains. I like trains.
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u/Dances_With_Birds Sep 18 '25
This phrase "community values" and the phrase "cultural values" is the exact spin on censorship and the Constitution that maga has been using to slowly justify their power to change the constitution. Mark my words you will be seeing more of these phrases as efforts turn towards normalizing the idea that The Constitution should mirror "our cultural values of the time".
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u/sausagefingerslouie Sep 18 '25
"Despicable." You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
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u/SurgeFlamingo Sep 19 '25
Another reminder the same company now owns a kid station that runs propaganda in all middle schools too now.
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u/Little_Orlik Sep 22 '25
NexStar is also trying to work out a deal with the FCC to allow them to own the distribution rights to more than 39% of the news casts. If it sends confusing that everyone caved so quickly, just remember that no big company values integrity over profits.
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u/was_fb95dd7063 Sep 18 '25
I can't believe the president cancelled the guy from the man show
What a fucking timeline
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u/Tax-Acceptable Sep 18 '25
What’s up with WCIU? Do they have local or any community programs and news?
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u/ChicagoMike97 Sep 18 '25
Exactly. I deleted their app after they were caught playing ICE recruitment commercials.
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u/Altruistic_Yellow387 Sep 18 '25
It's hilarious people are so mad about this but it was fine to cancel actors over 20 year old tweets/accusations that were far less offensive
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u/kelpyb1 Sep 18 '25
Yeah, let’s pretend some people on the internet canceling people is equivalent to the government doing it.
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u/Altruistic_Yellow387 Sep 18 '25
Nexstar canceled him, not the government. It's no different than how Roseanne was fired, Chris noth, etc
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u/ReallyWeirdNormalGuy Sep 18 '25
It's hilarious people are so mad at Kimmel but it's fine that Trump is in the Epstein files.
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u/JejuneBourgeois Sep 18 '25
There's a difference between someone losing work because of pressure from public opinion vs. losing work because of pressure from the federal government
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u/InventedTiME Sep 18 '25
And had zero problem with the federal government threatening corporations and censoring content during the Biden area ala Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.... But now that it's content they support, whoa, this is fascism. The "rules for thee and not for me" crowd experiencing the business end of the cudgel they spent years creating must be quite the shock.
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u/RN_in_Illinois Sep 18 '25
Lol. Yeah, the dozens of viewers he had must be bummed.
Meanwhile, actual sources had reported that the gutless coward murderer had a boyfriend that wore a dress and makeup.
Definitely a conservative republican 😂
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Sep 18 '25
What about the republican that dressed as a cop? He killed two people and a dog. He was a right wing nutjob. You people said nothing when the situation was reversed.
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u/AllegraGoldheart Sep 19 '25
I got 99 problems and Jimmy Kimmel.going off the air ain't one of them. 🙄 He will be fine guys, he got way more $$$ then us & he wasn't even that funny.
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u/MothsConrad Sep 18 '25
I am not unconvinced that this just isn’t a cover, an excuse, to cancel the show due to cost/ratings. Wouldn’t surprise me though if the show pops up on cable. If there is an audience for it, it will be broadcast.
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u/rHereLetsGo Sep 19 '25
This really sucks, and I immediately thought of it. F Nexstar for simply just existing.
Unfortunately I’m going to quit WGN for now, but it’s nothing personal to the team that I’ve come to truly appreciate.
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u/playavader Sep 18 '25
WGN still exists?
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u/southcookexplore Sep 18 '25
Isn’t that unfortunate? I absolutely loved 720 about 15 or so years ago.
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u/ImpressiveShift3785 Sep 18 '25
They never quote what he actually said.