George Santos lawsuit against Jimmy Kimmel demonstrates that late night talk show hosts need immunity to do their jobs in today’s media environment.
As Sam Alito pointed out, if talk show hosts do not enjoy immunity, they may never retire. Could you imagine how the country would cope if Johnny Carson was still hosting the Tonight Show? (Well, maybe the fact that Johnny died nearly 20 years ago weakens the case here.)
As no less a comedian than Julius Caesar pointed out, it was impossible for him to return to Rome from France without some form of “imperium.” (Many Romans did not speak good English so they tended to jabber in Latin.) What Caesar meant by Imperium was in a way similar to immunity. Of course, Caesar didn’t want the members of the Senate to stab him to death, but he also didn’t want to be prosecuted for his efforts to become rich and powerful while ruling what we now call France. Though the record is less clear, Caesar probably told some jokes that may not have been appreciated in Rome.
Kimmel also needs immunity. How can he be expected to ridicule Santos if he is not blessed with the Constitutional protections that the Founding Fathers intended for talk show hosts. The fact that Santos is a former member of Congress, a deadbeat and a scoundrel may not be enough to protect Kimmel.
It will be difficult to prove that Kimmel has damaged Santos’s reputation, but that won’t stop George from trying. Kimmel may be forced to bear the burden of having a suit cleaned if he needs to appear in court.
If the Framers of our Constitution did not want talk show hosts to have total immunity, they would have said so. Trump’s appearances on “The Apprentice” probably do not merit the kind of immunity that should be given to real talk show hosts.