KEY POINTS:
- Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to ABC on Tuesday night, the Walt Disney Company announced Monday (NBC News, CNN)
- The show was suspended last Wednesday following Kimmel’s comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination (NBC News)
- Uncertainty remains about whether all ABC affiliate stations will carry the show upon its return (The Hollywood Reporter, CNN)
- Over 400 celebrities signed an ACLU open letter supporting Kimmel, calling the suspension a “dark moment for freedom of speech” (NBC News)
Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return to ABC’s airwaves on Tuesday, the Walt Disney Company announced Monday, according to NBC News. The announcement came nearly a week after the show was suspended amid criticism of the host’s remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, NBC News reported.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” Disney said in a statement to CNN. According to the same CNN report, Disney added: “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
The Suspension
ABC pulled the show Wednesday after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke ABC affiliate licenses over Kimmel’s comments, which he described in a podcast interview as “the sickest conduct possible,” NBC News reported. According to Yahoo Entertainment, Carr said on a right-wing podcast on Wednesday afternoon: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
During his monologue on Monday, September 15, Kimmel said that “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 and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” according to both NBC News and Yahoo Entertainment.
Nexstar and Sinclair, two companies that own ABC affiliate stations across the United States, then announced they would yank Kimmel’s show, NBC News reported. ABC followed suit, saying it would suspend the show “indefinitely,” according to NBC News.
Political Reactions
President Donald Trump said Thursday that Kimmel was fired because of “bad ratings” after he said a “horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk,” according to Yahoo Entertainment. Trump made these comments during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in England, Yahoo Entertainment reported.
“Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person,” Trump continued, according to Yahoo Entertainment. “He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.”
Speaking later to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump suggested that the FCC should look into the licenses of networks and evening shows that criticize him, Yahoo Entertainment reported. According to the same report, Trump said: “When you have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump. That’s all they do. When you go back, take a look, all they do is hit Trump. They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that.”
Vice President JD Vance jokingly described Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “the new host of ABC’s late-night show!” NBC News reported.
Industry Support
Stephen Colbert said at the beginning of his Late Show monologue on CBS: “Tonight, we are all Jimmy Kimmel,” according to Yahoo Entertainment. Colbert called Kimmel’s suspension “blatant censorship” and described the president as “an autocrat,” Yahoo Entertainment reported. “With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch, and if ABC thinks this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive,” Colbert said, per Yahoo Entertainment.
Jimmy Fallon said Thursday during his Tonight Show monologue on NBC: “To be honest with you all, I don’t know what’s going on — and no one does. But I do know Jimmy Kimmel, and he is a decent, funny and loving guy. And I hope he comes back,” Yahoo Entertainment reported.
Seth Meyers said on NBC’s Late Night: “It is a privilege and an honor to call Jimmy Kimmel my friend,” according to Yahoo Entertainment. He added: “This is a big moment in our democracy, and we must all stand up for the principles of free expression. There’s a reason free speech is in the very first amendment. It stands above all others,” per Yahoo Entertainment.
Former President Barack Obama said on X: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like,” according to Yahoo Entertainment. Obama added: “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent. And media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it,” per Yahoo Entertainment.
Celebrity Response
In an open letter released Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union, more than 400 celebrities wrote that Disney’s decision represents a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” NBC News reported. The letter states: “We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech,” according to NBC News. The stars who signed the letter include Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Meryl Streep and Kerry Washington, NBC News reported.
“Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof said he would not work with the company unless Kimmel’s suspension was lifted, NBC News reported. Tatiana Maslany, star of the Disney+ series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” called on her social media followers to “cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!” according to NBC News.
There were organized protests against Disney outside of the company’s offices in New York and Burbank, California over the past week, as well as outside the theater where Kimmel’s show is recorded in Hollywood, CNN reported.
Uncertainty About Affiliate Stations
Despite Kimmel’s return, it is not immediately clear if his show will be available across the entire country, The Hollywood Reporter stated. Sinclair had said that it would not go back to running Kimmel’s show on its stations until the late night host apologized for his comments, met with Sinclair representatives and made a donation to Turning Point, the organization that Kirk founded, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for Kirk’s activist organization, Turning Point USA, said in a post on X: “Disney and ABC caving and allowing [Kimmel] back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make. Nextstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice,” according to both NBC News and CNN.
Background on Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative activist, was fatally shot during a speech at Utah Valley University on September 10 during his “American Comeback Tour,” according to search results from Newsweek. Tyler Robinson, 22, is in custody charged with aggravated murder and other offenses, per the same search results.
The following day after Kimmel’s comments, authorities in Utah said that the man accused of shooting Kirk had “started to lean more left” in recent months and targeted Kirk for his “political expression,” NBC News reported.
Looking Forward
Carr, asked about the Kimmel saga at a conference Monday, insisted that Disney, “on its own,” made a “business decision” to pre-empt the late-night host’s show, NBC News reported. He then accused Democratic lawmakers of “distorting what happened here” with accusations of government coercion and censorship, according to NBC News.
Media analysts have watched as Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden have navigated competing pressures, CNN reported. Disney needs government approval for pending deals like ESPN’s pact with the NFL, while many of its station partners are in the same boat, according to CNN. Additionally, Kimmel’s contract is expiring in May and late-night TV audiences and revenue have been on decline, CNN stated.
Kimmel has not yet publicly commented on the controversy, but presumably will on his show Tuesday night, CNN reported. His show employs between 200 and 250 people, according to CNN.
