By James Williams

When Jimmy Kimmel was suspended over remarks about Charlie Kirk’s death, conservatives cheered. When Roseanne Barr was fired in 2018 over a racist tweet, liberals applauded. Different years, different comedians, but the same story: outrage, pressure, punishment, and partisan applause.

The truth is, America’s left and right aren’t as different as they pretend. Both defend free speech when it protects their allies, and both demand censorship when it punishes their enemies. Comedy has become the perfect battlefield for this hypocrisy.

Roseanne Barr tweeted about Valerie Jarrett and ABC canceled her top-rated sitcom overnight. The left said justice had been served; the right said cancel culture had gone too far. Jimmy Kimmel mocked conservative reactions to Kirk’s death in a monologue, and ABC suspended his late-night show indefinitely. The right cheered his downfall; the left decried censorship. The content of the comments may differ, but the pattern is identical.

This is nothing new. In the days of kingdoms, jesters could only joke so long as they did not offend the throne. Lenny Bruce was arrested in the 1960s for obscenity. George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” led to a Supreme Court case that gave the FCC power to regulate indecency. History proves that power has always sought to control humor, because humor can puncture pride, expose hypocrisy, and reach people in ways politics cannot.

I once had a friend say comedians should be held accountable for their jokes. Nothing could be more dangerous. Policing humor is the first step toward shrinking freedom. Yet what makes today’s moment more alarming is the difference between Roseanne and Kimmel. Barr lost her job because ABC made a corporate decision. Kimmel was suspended after the FCC chair, a government official, publicly pressured the network. That is not just cancel culture. That is government leaning on media.

In 1930s Europe, regimes consolidated power not only by controlling politicians and press but also by silencing artists, comedians, and performers. Jokes became dangerous. Satire became subversion. Silence became the only safe option.

When the government dictates what comedians can and cannot say, free speech is no longer a debate — it is already slipping away. Liberals and conservatives may act like opposites, but when it comes to comedy, they are mirror images. Both cheer when opponents are silenced. Both celebrate when free speech is crushed for the other side.

The only difference now is that conservatives have taken cancel culture a step further — using government power itself to silence a comedian. That is not just hypocrisy. That is dangerous.