Wielding a bat and a bad attitude, the Oscar-winner demanded that Kimmel follow his new rules.

Robert De Niro’s FCC chair threatens Jimmy Kimmel: ‘Shut that f---ing mouth of yours’

Wielding a bat and a bad attitude, the Oscar-winner demanded that Kimmel follow his new rules.

By Shania Russell

Shania Russell

Shania Russell is a news writer at *, *with five years of experience. Her work has previously appeared in SlashFilm and Paste Magazine.

EW's editorial guidelines

October 1, 2026 11:36 a.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Jimmy Kimmel and Robert De Niro on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’. Credit:

- Robert De Niro crashed* Jimmy Kimmel Live* on Wednesday to threaten the late-night host with a baseball bat.

- Don’t worry, the thuggish behavior wasn’t personal — it was De Niro portraying FCC Chairman Brendan Carr.

- “You speak when I tell you to speak and otherwise you shut the f--- up,” De Niro’s Carr demanded.

Donald Trump’s Oscar-winning nemesis is standing up for him… sort of.

Robert De Niro, wielding a baseball bat and a mob boss demeanor, crashed Jimmy Kimmel‘s Wednesday taping of his late-night show not as himself, but as a thuggish version of FCC Chairman Brandan Carr.

Kimmel, who’s in the middle of a week-long residency at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, was delivering his monologue when the interruption occurred.

“I don’t know if you know this, but the last time we were here in Brooklyn, we were just getting back on the air after we had that unexpected FCC vacation week,” Kimmel told the crowd. “And while I would like to say that things have improved over the last year, they haven’t really. We are still being threatened by the FCC.”

Cue De Niro in a navy suit, casually swinging around a baseball bat. He stopped in front of Kimmel and began prodding him with the weapon, asking, “You’re being threatened by the FCC? Who is threatening you? Am I threatening you? Do you feel threatened by me?”

Robert De Niro threatening Jimmy Kimmel with a bat.

“A little. Yeah,” Kimmel replied. When the host asked for his name and business on the show, De Niro’s take on the regulatory chief became even more aggressive.

“My name is none of your f---ing business,” he hit back, adding, “This is just a routine inspection to make sure you are abiding by the terms of your license. Now if you will shut that f---ing mouth of yours, I have a few items I’d like to discuss.”

He was handed a clipboard by Trump aide Natalie Harp (portrayed by Kimmel’s wife and executive producer Molly McNearny) and began reading off it. “Okay, let’s see. It says we have 192 instances of you poking fun at the president’s appearance. Did you say the president looks like a Macy’s parade balloon filled with cottage cheese?”

After Kimmel reluctantly fessed up to that insult, De Niro’s Carr ran down the list of other name-calling instances, including “Mar-a-Lardo,” “Benito Gasolini,” and “Captain Cankleroo.”

Jimmy Kimmel orders security to remove Matt Damon from Brooklyn show: ‘Remove this Masshole from the theater’

Ben Affleck says his 17-year-old roasted him over relationship advice: ‘Like you’re the expert’

When Kimmel attempted to object to the process, De Niro’s Carr shut him up with a slap to the face. “Did I tell you it was your turn to talk, Numbnuts?” he demanded. “You speak when I tell you to speak, and otherwise you shut the f--- up.”

“You can not use language like that on television,” Kimmel pointed out. “There are rules, you know.”

“There are rules? I run the FCC,” Carr answered. “Who’s gonna stop me?”

Carr then demanded that Kimmel begin respecting the equal time rule.

“Every time you insult the president, you got to follow it with something nice,” De Niro’s Carr proclaimed. “For example, if you were to say something like, ‘Trump wasn’t invited to Jeffrey Epstein’s birthday party ’cause they were afraid he’d start eating the cake before the kid jumped out.’ Then you got to also compliment his penmanship in that naked lady birthday poem he didn’t write. Am I clear?”

Robert De Niro as Brendan Carr on ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’.

“Not really,” Kimmel countered. “It just seems to me like you’re trying to control what I do and do not say by abusing the power of the federal government.”

At that, De Niro’s Carr smiled. “Finally,” he said, pinching Kimmel’s cheek. “Dumb f--- is finally starting to get it.”

Kimmel has been a vocal critic of Carr’s actions within the Federal Communications Commission, complaining in January that the FCC Chief was “doing everything he can to shut us up, the easy way or the hard way.” That particular jab came after the FCC released new guidance arguing that talk shows and late-night shows should not be considered “bona fide” news programs, and thus should not continue to receive exemption from the equal time rule, which requires programs to give equal time to all political candidates running for the same office.

“It is another example of this administration trying to squash anyone who doesn’t support them by following ‘the rules,’” Kimmel said at the time.

Kimmel also famously came into conflict with the FCC last September, after Carr encouraged ABC affiliate groups to preempt the talk show over comments the 58-year-old host made about the killing of conservative pundit Charlie Kirk.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our ******EW Dispatch newsletter******.***

In response to Carr, groups like Nexstar and Sinclair announced plans to preempt Kimmel’s show, leading ABC to suspend the program nationwide for six days. After the show was reinstated by ABC’s parent company, Disney, some affiliate groups still refused to air *Jimmy Kimmel Live* — a decision that Carr praised on social media.

Watch Kimmel defend himself against De Niro’s parody of Carr above.

- Late Night Highlight

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW Late”