CNN’s Abby Phillip Says ‘More Liberals’ Need To ‘Actively Acknowledge’ Their Part in Cancel Culture

CNN’s Abby Phillip is pushing for “more liberals” to “actively acknowledge” their part in cancel culture amid the indefinite suspension of late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

On CNN’s Table for Five on Saturday, Phillip and her panel took on the suspension of Kimmel after the comedian made controversial remarks related to the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Phillip at one point aired past clips of conservatives like Vice President JD Vance and X owner Elon Musk complaining about cancel culture in past years. The situation, she argued, is now reversed with many cheering on Kimmel being pulled from the air.

Kmele Foster, co-host of The Fifth Column podcast, argued that the left should acknowledge that they have in the past been too “censorious,” something Phillip quickly agreed with.

“I think that’s something more liberals should say. I think it would help. They should acknowledge, not just in passing, but actively acknowledge where things went wrong. That’s the only way to move forward, I think, in a way,” Phillip said.

Ashley Allison, a CNN political commentator and former official with former President Joe Biden’s 2020 campaign, pushed back on this argument, saying the “difference” in Kimmel getting suspended is that the administration could be involved.

Ahead of ABC suspending Kimmel, FCC Chair Brendan Carr red-flagged the comedian’s comment and warned ABC that it would be taken care of one way or another. President Donald Trump has also dismissed free speech concerns over Kimmel’s suspension, saying he “should have been fired a long time ago,” chalking ABC’s decision up to “bad ratings.”

“Frankly, when you see stuff like this, I mean look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

“What would we acknowledge?” Allison asked Phillip on Saturday.

“I think you have to acknowledge that there is a, listen, cancel culture was a thing. It was actually a thing, and it’s not just enough to say, well, my cancel culture was fine, but yours is wrong. There has to be an acknowledgement that, yeah, now I think everybody understands what free speech really looks like and what it means, and then you have to apply that thinking to what was happening four, five, six years ago in this country and say something about it,” Phillip said.

“The only difference I would say is it wasn’t the president of the United States canceling them. Joe Biden wasn’t canceling somebody, Kamala Harris wasn’t canceling,” Allison argued. “It might’ve been individual citizens, and individual citizens actually have the ability to say, I don’t like it and let their dollars, let their viewership, let their subscriptions [decide].”

On Kimmel’s show, the late night comedian accused “MAGA” of “desperately” trying to characterize Tyler Robinson — now facing murder charges over Kirk — as “anything other than one of them.”

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them,” he said.

According to Utah officials, Robinson was “indoctrinated” in far-left “ideology” in the years leading up to Kirk’s murder.

Check out the exchange below:

KMELE FOSTER: I want to call out something I heard earlier this week. Ezra Klein and Ross Douthat were having a conversation and there was this moment where Ezra says, “you know I’ve probably needed to acknowledge back a couple of years ago that we were a little too censorious.

ABBY PHILLIP: I think that’s something more liberals should say. I think it would help. They should acknowledge, not just in passing, but actively acknowledge where things went wrong. That’s the only way to move forward, I think, in a way.

ASHLEY ALLISON: What would we acknowledge?

PHILLIP: Well, I think you have to acknowledge that there is a, listen, cancel culture was a thing. It was actually a thing, and it’s not just enough to say, well, my cancel culture was fine, but yours is wrong. There has to be an acknowledgement that, yeah, now I think everybody understands what free speech really looks like and what it means, and then you have to apply that thinking to what was happening four, five, six years ago in this country and say something about it.

ALLISON: This is the difference about — I don’t like cancel culture, but the only difference I would say is it wasn’t the president of the United States canceling them. Joe Biden wasn’t canceling somebody, Kamala Harris wasn’t canceling. It might’ve been individual citizens, and individual citizens actually have the ability to say, I don’t like it and let their dollars, let their viewership, let their subscriptions [decide].

Watch above via CNN.