Brendan Carr, who appeared to pressure broadcasters to take show off air, set to go before commerce committee<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brendan Carr, the pro-Trump chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has agreed to testify before the Senate commerce committee following Disney\u2019s decision to take talkshow host Jimmy Kimmel<\/a> off air temporarily, according to multiple reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carr agreed to testify after speaking to committee chair Ted Cruz, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter on Wednesday, adding the date of the hearing has not been set but was expected after November. Semafor was the first to report on the hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carr, Disney, the White House and an FCC spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On 17 September, ABC announced<\/a> it would \u201cindefinitely\u201d suspend Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s show, hours after Carr had appeared on a conservative podcast and appeared to pressure network affiliates to stop airing the show over comments by Kimmel on the death of the far-right pundit Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe can do this the easy way or the hard way,\u201d Carr had said, explaining that he wanted broadcasters to \u201ctake action\u201d on Kimmel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nexstar and Sinclair, two major carriers of ABC<\/a> programming, quickly announced plans to pull Kimmel\u2019s show, seemingly forcing ABC\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, ABC decided to bring Kimmel back<\/a> the following week, and Nexstar and Sinclair followed suit<\/a>. The network\u2019s decision reportedly followed a wave of cancellations of streaming service Disney+.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The show returned on 23 September and hit a 10-year ratings high among adult viewers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carr\u2019s comments drew criticism from across the aisle. Cruz<\/a> said some of Carr\u2019s remarks were \u201cdangerous as hell\u201d and compared him to a \u201cmafioso\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During a news conference last week, Carr was asked whether he regrets the phrasing he used when talking about Kimmel, Carr claimed \u201cthe full words that I said, the full context of the interview\u201d, were very clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n