White House declines to back petition to boot Jimmy Kimmel off TV

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jan/11/white-house-petition-jimmy-kimmel-china

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The White House has responded to a petition calling for an apology and the removal of Jimmy Kimmel's television show by saying the comedian cannot be forced off the air.

More than 105,000 people signed the petition on the White House website. It followed an October broadcast of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live which featured a segment in which Kimmel spoke to young children about US government debt owed to China.

When Kimmel asked how the US should repay the Asian power, one boy said: "Kill everyone in China.”

In its response, the White House noted that ABC and Kimmel have apologised, and that the network has removed the segment from future broadcasts and its online platforms.

The White House statement also said: “On a broader level, as the president has stated publicly, the United States welcomes the continuing peaceful rise of China. The comments you are writing about do not reflect mainstream views of China in the United States.”

The White House also noted that the US constitution protects free speech, even when it is offensive.

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