In early 2018, Jimmy Kimmel got under then-President Donald Trump's skin so successfully that Trump ordered White House officials to try to have him censored, according to a Rolling Stone report citing former administration officials. The sources say Trump felt the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host was being " very dishonest" and doing things Trump "would have sued over" when he was a private citizen. The sources say Trump had staff members call top execs at Disney, owner of ABC. "Nobody thought it was going to change anything but DJT was focused on it so we had to do something," one source says. The sources say other staffers said their contacts at Disney were confused by the requests for Kimmel to tone down his Trump jokes.
The sources say one exec who was contacted was Richard Bates, Disney's former top lobbyist in Washington. Trump believed, incorrectly, that shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Saturday Night Live had violated a federal law that required them to give him equal time, the sources say. Rolling Stone says its sources asked to remain anonymous "in order to speak freely and to preserve ongoing relationships in Trumpworld and conservative circles."
At the time Trump was allegedly demanding censorship, Kimmel was comparing Trump to Kim Jong Un and had invited Stormy Daniels to appear on the show, the Guardian reports. "Happy New Year, everybody. We have two maniacs with nuclear warheads bragging about who has the bigger button," Kimmel said in his first show of 2018. Kimmel tweeted a link to the Rolling Stone story Sunday, quipping "Another perfect call." In November, Kimmel said his jokes about Trump probably cost him half his audience, but he has no regrets. (More Jimmy Kimmel stories.)
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