Robert De Niro Parodies FCC Chairman in Jimmy Kimmel’s Late-Night Return
Robert De Niro played a fictional FCC chairman on Jimmy Kimmel’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in a politically combustible return to late-night television. Satire aired on September 23, 2025, after ABC suspended Kimmel for comments on conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.
In the joke, Kimmel expected to talk to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. According to D’Niro, “Sir Trump,” the former President, named him as FCC chairman. De Niro’s gangster persona made political critique funny.
Kimmel said the FCC was adopting “mob tactics” to suppress free speech, to which De Niro’s character replied, “What the f— did you just say to me?” De Niro, calling himself the FCC, escalated the stakes. I can say anything “highlighting government media control overreach.
De Niro created a new FCC motto, “Sticks and stones may break your bones,” to which Kimmel answered, “But words can never harm you.” He said, “They can hurt you now. Select the right terms. Capisce?” It mocked censorship and speech regulation.
In the finale, the former president called De Niro’s character and warned Kimmel about Tylenol and autism conspiracy theories: “Maybe not on ABC. Your pick.” A last critique of politics, media, and free speech.
Kimmel returned to mixed reviews. ABC affiliates Sinclair and Nexstar preempted the broadcast owing to content concerns, however others supported it. Jennifer Aniston, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep were among 400 celebrities who signed an ACLU statement defending Kimmel’s free speech. Kimmel praised his supporters and criticized the FCC and Trump administration, seeing the dispute as part of a bigger US free speech debate.
The amusing, political Robert De Niro sketch addressed media, government, and free speech issues. This article examined how late-night television tackles censorship with wit and wit.
Sources
People.com
The Daily Beast
The Verge
AP News
Tribune.com.pk
