Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show will resume broadcasting on Tuesday, Disney said, days after the company pulled the show indefinitely during controversy over the host’s remarks about the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” has been off the ABC network since Sept. 17.
Disney, the parent of the ABC, had suspended broadcasts after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel’s remarks and suggested regulators could take action against the broadcast licenses of ABC-owned stations.
“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 company said.
Kimmel had told viewers on Sept. 15 that Republicans were “doing everything they can to score political points from” Kirk’s shooting. He mocked President Trump’s grieving, comparing it to “how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish.” He also said supporters of the Make America Great Again movement were trying to characterize the suspect “as anything other than one of them.”
During an interview with conservative political podcaster Benny Johnson two days later, Carr suggested the FCC could take action against the broadcast licenses of ABC-owned stations.
Broadcasters Nexstar and Sinclair, which combined own and operate more than 60 ABC affiliates, then said they would drop Kimmel’s show. Nexstar is in the process of acquiring the broadcaster Tegna in a deal valued at $6.2 billion that will require FCC approval.
Disney executives decided to pre-empt the show indefinitely after discussing Kimmel’s plan to address the ensuing controversy on last Wednesday’s show. Disney leadership felt Kimmel’s planned remarks would only fan the flames higher instead of putting them out, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The executives were also concerned about the safety of the staff who work on the show whose email addresses had been posted on some websites.
On Sept. 18, Trump suggested the administration could revoke the licenses of broadcast television networks that are “against” him.
Trump, Carr and other conservatives hailed Disney’s move, while some Democrats and people in Hollywood expressed concerns about government censorship.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) was among some Republicans who criticized Carr for overreach. On his podcast, Cruz said it was “unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying we’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying.”
Disney’s decision to take Kimmel off the air sparked widespread criticism in the entertainment community. Comedians, actors and Hollywood labor unions decried what they saw as complicity in censorship. Some called for people to cancel subscriptions to Disney streaming services.
More than 400 celebrities, including Tom Hanks, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Kerry Washington, signed a letter sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union denouncing Kimmel’s suspension as “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
The suspension could have long-lasting repercussions on prominent talent’s willingness to work with Disney. Chief Executive Bob Iger, who oversaw the Kimmel situation along with television chief Dana Walden, have long emphasized the importance of creative excellence in every aspect of Disney’s business, and some in the creative community saw the Kimmel decision as interfering with artistic expression.
“Where has all the leadership gone?” Michael Eisner, Iger’s predecessor helming Disney, said in a post on X.
Networks have faced threats and lawsuits from Trump and his administration over their content. Last December, ABC agreed to pay $15 million to Trump’s future presidential foundation and museum and $1 million in legal fees to Trump’s lawyer to settle a defamation lawsuit against the network and its anchor George Stephanopoulos.
