Jimmy Kimmel pal Bill Simmons shares thoughts on what comes next

Bill Simmons believes this won’t the the end for dear friend Jimmy Kimmel — and challenged his former company to stand by the late-night host after ABC pulled his show.

“I hope Jimmy’s show sticks around and I hope ABC sticks by him, and I think if they don’t it would be pretty cowardly. I don’t think it’s a crazy thing to say. If they don’t stick by him and this is the end, I think he’s going to be fine,” Simmons said on his self-named podcast.

“He’ll find another platform somewhere and he’ll figure out how to get all his content out in the right ways and I would not bet against that dude. The situation sucked, I kinda can’t believe it didn’t happen, it had to be the lowest threshold ever for an overreaction like this. But ultimately, maybe the way everybody rallied around the show the last 24 hours and just rallied around the concept of free speech, maybe we needed it.”

Simmons, 55, said he’s been friends with Kimmel for 24 years, dating back to when he worked on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for 18 months.

He made it clear that he backs Kimmel and not his friend’s employer, who pulled his show off the airwaves indefinitely following comments he made regarding Charlie Kirk’s assassination.

Simmons views the situation as slightly different than that of Stephen Colbert, whom CBS and Paramount is removing from its programming.

He believes Kimmel is more of the face of ABC than Colbert is for CBS, noting how Kimmel hosts “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” has helmed he Oscars and does the network’s upfronts.

“I just think he means more to ABC in a bunch of different ways,” Simmons said of Kimmel, “if you compare it to CBS vs. ABC, it comes down to leverage and it comes down to power.”

Simmons believes Kimmel landed in the middle of the power pendulum in that ABC had more pushback ability than CBS, but not like NBC with “Saturday Night Live.”

He noted the pending Nexstar merger with Tegna that requires FCC approval, and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr spoke critically of Kimmel both before and after his show’s removal.

Simmons labeled the show’s removal as “censorship.”

“Jimmy’s show isn’t quite powerful enough for Disney to defend it the same way NBC would have defended ‘Saturday Night Live’ in a similar circumstance,” Simmons said. “(President Donald) Trump knows this, (Disney president) Bob Iger knows this. There’s only so far they’re going to go, and if it’s going to cost them affiliates and all these issues, they’re not going to mess with it.”

Simmons said he originally thought there’s no chance Kimmel returns, but now believes it’s possible Disney will throw its weight behind Kimmel.

“Maybe what Disney is realizing is that at some point you have to stand for something,” Simmons said. “At some point you got to stand by a person who’s been one of the best people you’ve had for 20-plus years, who all he’s done is elevate your company, who has come through time and time again in all these different ways and is a face. Once you start losing your faces, you just don’t have a soul anymore. You’re just another place that’s just pumping out content, you might as well be Pluto at this point.

“I think that’s why there’s a little hope with this.”

However, it takes two to tango and Simmons isn’t sure that Kimmel wants to or feels the need to continue the ABC partnership.

Simmons believes believes that should the parties split, Kimmel will be fine and continue to make quality content since he’s “the most competitive person I know.”

Said Simmons: “The bigger question for me: Why does Jimmy need ABC anymore?”