Jimmy Kimmel is getting back on the air.
The ABC late night host is returning to broadcast on Tuesday following a brief but monumental suspension that sparked a national debate over the Trump administration’s pressure tactics and the modern limits and consequences of free speech.
“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,” ABC parent The Walt Disney Co. said in a statement Monday. “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 move follows an extraordinary week in the media that kicked off with Kimmel making a somewhat vaguely worded on-air comment on the Sept. 15 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live! about Charlie Kirk’s assassin that could easily be read as suggesting the suspect was a MAGA conservative — despite evidence to the contrary. The quote went viral, sparking plenty of online backlash.
On Wednesday, FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened ABC’s affiliate licenses over the comment. Affiliate groups Nexstar — which is seeking FCC approval for an upcoming merger — and Sinclair told ABC they would preempt Kimmel’s show (Nexstar insisted in a subsequent statement that its decision was made independent of Carr’s comments, but the timing made that tough to believe).
Behind the scenes, sources say Kimmel wasn’t planning to apologize on that night’s show and instead was going to defend his original comments as being taken out of context and “grossly mischaracterized” by MAGA, which Disney brass thought would only inflame the situation. Disney/ABC then announced Jimmy Kimmel Live! was “suspended indefinitely.” On Thursday, a follow-up meeting between Kimmel and Disney execs reportedly ended in a stalemate, with Kimmel sticking to his stated plan of unapologetically defending himself.
The move follows an extraordinary week in the media that kicked off with Kimmel making a somewhat vaguely worded on-air comment on the Sept. 15 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live! about Charlie Kirk’s assassin that could easily be read as suggesting the suspect was a MAGA conservative — despite evidence to the contrary. The quote went viral, sparking plenty of online backlash.
On Wednesday, FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened ABC’s affiliate licenses over the comment. Affiliate groups Nexstar — which is seeking FCC approval for an upcoming merger — and Sinclair told ABC they would preempt Kimmel’s show (Nexstar insisted in a subsequent statement that its decision was made independent of Carr’s comments, but the timing made that tough to believe).
Behind the scenes, sources say Kimmel wasn’t planning to apologize on that night’s show and instead was going to defend his original comments as being taken out of context and “grossly mischaracterized” by MAGA, which Disney brass thought would only inflame the situation. Disney/ABC then announced Jimmy Kimmel Live! was “suspended indefinitely.” On Thursday, a follow-up meeting between Kimmel and Disney execs reportedly ended in a stalemate, with Kimmel sticking to his stated plan of unapologetically defending himself.
(Excerpt) Read more in: The Hollywood Reporter