COVIDsteria + Daily Memes

COVIDsteria + Daily Memes

Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Major Truthache's avatar
Major Truthache
Sep 21

Sometimes I think ABC and Jimmy Kimmel are running the oldest hustle in the book — the staged scandal to goose ratings.

Remember Howard Stern’s “disappearing act”? His ratings were sinking at Sirius XM, and suddenly a PR storm erupted: Howard quit. Howard was fired. Howard was silenced. The rumors swirled, most of them cooked up by Sirius and Stern’s own camp. The press ate it up. And then—on the morning of his “big reveal”—the world tuned in expecting blood. Instead, Andy Cohen popped up in Stern’s seat, headlines exploded, theories multiplied. And then, after a commercial break, who strolls back on air? Stern himself, laughing at the entire media circus he had engineered. He played us all.

And now, look at Kimmel, one of Stern’s closet friends. A show with limp ratings, sliding relevance, and suddenly—boom—he’s at the center of a scandal. His “indefinite suspension” is splashed across headlines, outrage cycles churn, and the press dutifully keeps his name in the bloodstream.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe ABC isn’t trying to replicate Stern’s stunt. But the shame here is worse: this time, the vehicle isn’t a ratings gimmick—it’s the death of Charlie Kirk. Using a man’s assassination, a family’s tragedy, as fuel to pump oxygen into a dying late-night show? That’s not just cynical. That’s disgraceful.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

But if ABC and Kimmel are pulling this stunt on Kirk’s grave, the shame will belong to them forever.

Reply
Share
Rich Liebman's avatar
Rich Liebman
Sep 20Edited

Excellent 💥 collection‼️

I will get busy sharing these right away! Thanks 🙏

Reply
Share

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2026 Citizen Satirist (CS) · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture