Jimmy Kimmel Live! set to return Tuesday after suspension
ABC will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show, officials with the network said Monday, ending a suspension brought on by criticism over his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
"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," said a statement from the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC.
Kimmel said in a recent monologue that "many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk" and that "the MAGA gang" was "desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them."
Kimmel has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC since 2003 and has been a fixture in television and comedy for even longer. He is also well known as a presenter, having hosted the Academy Awards four times.
Backlash to Kimmel's comments about Kirk was swift. Nexstar and Sinclair, two of ABC's largest affiliate owners, said they would be pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their stations. Others, including several fellow comedians, came to his defence.
There was no immediate comment from Nexstar and Sinclair in response to messages from The Associated Press.
Trump applauded suspensionU.S. President Donald Trump, one of Kimmel's frequent targets, posted on social media that Kimmel's suspension was "great news for America." He also called for other late night hosts to be fired.
Kimmel was asked in an interview with Variety this past summer if he was worried that the administration would come after comedians. He expressed concern that a crackdown could be on the way.
"Well, you'd have to be naive not to worry a little bit," he said. "But that can't change what you're doing."
Kimmel's suspension arrived at a time when Trump and his administration have pursued threats, lawsuits and federal government pressure to try to exert more control over the media industry. Trump has reached settlements with ABC and CBS over their coverage.
Trump has also filed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Republicans in Congress stripped federal funding from NPR and PBS.
Brendan Carr, the head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, issued a warning prior to Kimmel's suspension that criticized Kimmel's remarks following the Kirk assassination.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Carr said. "These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
Carr denied on Monday that he threatened to revoke ABC's local station licences because of Kimmel's remarks.
"Jimmy Kimmel is in the situation he's in because of his ratings. Not because of anything that's happened at the federal government level," Carr said at the Concordia Annual Summit.
The suspension also happened at a time when the late-night landscape is shifting. CBS announced the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert over the summer
Kimmel's contract with The Walt Disney Co.-owned network had been set to expire in May 2026.
Hollywood stars raise free speech concernsWord of the reinstatement came as hundreds of Hollywood and Broadway stars — including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep — urged Americans "fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights" in the wake of Kimmel's suspension.
More than 430 movie, TV and stage stars as well as comedians, directors and writers added their names to an open letter Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union that argues it is "a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation."
Also Monday, ABC's The View weighed in on the controversy, though they had not raised it for two episodes after Kimmel was suspended. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg opened the show saying: "No one silences us" and she and her fellow hosts condemned Disney's decision.
cbc.ca
