Jimmy Kimmel’s teary-eyed monologue on Texas shooting cut short in state

On Tuesday, the United States witnessed yet another tragic episode of mass shooting after a gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Texas. The incident has seen angry reactions about gun control and mass shootings in the US from celebs and common folk alike. On Wednesday, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel addressed the incident in his opening monologue for Jimmy Kimmel Live. However, the monologue was cut short by a Texas network, leading many to speculate if it was deliberate censorship. Also read: Texas shooting: Priyanka Chopra says condolences aren’t enough, Selena Gomez frustrated at the horror in her home state

An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing at least 19 children as he went from classroom to classroom, officials said, in the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade and the latest gruesome moment for a country scarred by a string of massacres. The attacker was killed by law enforcement. The death toll also included two adults, authorities said. Gov. Greg Abbott said one of the two was a teacher.

On Wednesday, Jimmy began his monologue in an unusually-staid manner without the studio audience. Fighting back tears the entire time, the comedian said, “Once again we grieve for the little boys and girls, whose lives have been ended and whose families have been destroyed. 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.”

Calling the leaders ‘cowardly’, Jimmy delivered a scathing indictment on their abilities and said, “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.”

Jimmy tweeted that he later learnt from viewers and other feedback that his monologue, where he also criticized Texas Governor Abbott, was cut by a network in the state. He tweeted a link to the monologue and wrote, “To my friends in Dallas who are asking: I do not know whether our ABC Network affiliate WFAA cut away from my monologue tonight intentionally or inadvertently but I will find out,” Kimmel wrote, also adding his full monologue to the post for those in Dallas who “didn’t get to see.”

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Kimmel’s six-minute monologue was cut off by a string of commercials, beginning with an in-house WFAA/Ch. 8 news spot. The ABC affiliate played several more commercials before cutting back into the end of the monologue, which Kimmel used for a three-minute Everytown.org commercial. The gun violence prevention organization aims to enact ‘evidence-based solutions’ to curb gun violence.”

The telecast was cut by WFAA, a network which telecasts ABC shows in the state. Peter Freedman, director of digital content at WFAA, responded to Jimmy on social media and said that ‘they were on the same team’. Claiming that the decision to cut the segment was made in advance, he replied, “We’d made the decision earlier in the day to extend our 10 o’clock news to include extra Uvalde coverage in our broadcast, it had nothing to do with your monologue. We’re on the same team.”

The network itself tweeted to Jimmy apologizing for the act. “Our apologies for last night’s technical difficulties. Full explanation of the technical issues, and your full monologue can be found here (link),” their tweet read.

Earlier, celebs like Priyanka Chopra, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, and Matthew McConaughey all expressed their sadness and anger at the tragedy.

On Tuesday, the United States witnessed yet another tragic episode of mass shooting after a gunman opened fire in an elementary school in Texas. The incident has seen angry reactions about gun control and mass shootings in the US from celebs and common folk alike. On Wednesday, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel addressed the incident in his opening monologue for Jimmy Kimmel Live. However, the monologue was cut short by a Texas network, leading many to speculate if it was deliberate censorship. Also read: Texas shooting: Priyanka Chopra says condolences aren’t enough, Selena Gomez frustrated at the horror in her home state

An 18-year-old gunman opened fire Tuesday at a Texas elementary school, killing at least 19 children as he went from classroom to classroom, officials said, in the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade and the latest gruesome moment for a country scarred by a string of massacres. The attacker was killed by law enforcement. The death toll also included two adults, authorities said. Gov. Greg Abbott said one of the two was a teacher.

On Wednesday, Jimmy began his monologue in an unusually-staid manner without the studio audience. Fighting back tears the entire time, the comedian said, “Once again we grieve for the little boys and girls, whose lives have been ended and whose families have been destroyed. 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.”

Calling the leaders ‘cowardly’, Jimmy delivered a scathing indictment on their abilities and said, “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.”

Jimmy tweeted that he later learnt from viewers and other feedback that his monologue, where he also criticized Texas Governor Abbott, was cut by a network in the state. He tweeted a link to the monologue and wrote, “To my friends in Dallas who are asking: I do not know whether our ABC Network affiliate WFAA cut away from my monologue tonight intentionally or inadvertently but I will find out,” Kimmel wrote, also adding his full monologue to the post for those in Dallas who “didn’t get to see.”

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “Kimmel’s six-minute monologue was cut off by a string of commercials, beginning with an in-house WFAA/Ch. 8 news spot. The ABC affiliate played several more commercials before cutting back into the end of the monologue, which Kimmel used for a three-minute Everytown.org commercial. The gun violence prevention organization aims to enact ‘evidence-based solutions’ to curb gun violence.”

The telecast was cut by WFAA, a network which telecasts ABC shows in the state. Peter Freedman, director of digital content at WFAA, responded to Jimmy on social media and said that ‘they were on the same team’. Claiming that the decision to cut the segment was made in advance, he replied, “We’d made the decision earlier in the day to extend our 10 o’clock news to include extra Uvalde coverage in our broadcast, it had nothing to do with your monologue. We’re on the same team.”

The network itself tweeted to Jimmy apologizing for the act. “Our apologies for last night’s technical difficulties. Full explanation of the technical issues, and your full monologue can be found here (link),” their tweet read.

Earlier, celebs like Priyanka Chopra, Taylor Swift, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, and Matthew McConaughey all expressed their sadness and anger at the tragedy.