Jimmy Kimmel’s show to return on Tuesday after Disney lifts suspension

Six days after the talk-show host was suspended by the FCC chairman for comments made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s alleged murder, Disney, a US entertainment company, announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live would return to the air.

ABC’s parent company announced the decision on Monday, stating that the late-night comedy show would return to the air on Tuesday and that production would be halted to “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

After making fun of the political reaction to the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, Kimmel’s show was cut off the air on September 17.

Numerous critics and boycotts of Disney and its streaming services were caused by the US network ABC’s decision to pull the program.

The ABC stated in a statement on Monday that it had spent the last few days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy before making the decision to return the show on Tuesday.

According to two people with knowledge of the situation, Disney’s CEO Bob Iger, Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden, and Kimmel discussed the subject over the weekend and agreed to return Kimmel to the air on Monday.

According to the sources, the decision was made based on what was best for the entertainment industry rather than on the advice of station owners or the FCC.

According to the sources, Kimmel is scheduled to address the problem when his program debuts on Tuesday.

Reuters could not immediately contact Kimmel’s spokeswoman for comment.

Trump had praised Kimmel’s suspension and mistakenly said it was an outright cancellation of the show because he has repeatedly pressured broadcasters to stop airing content he has found objectionable.

Kimmel, who frequently addresses Trump in his show, received criticism for remarks he made last Monday about Kirk’s death on September 10 in an audience of 3, 000 on Utah Valley University’s campus in Orem.

Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative political activist and podcast host, is credited with gaining 2024’s young voters’ support for Trump and the Republican Party.

The identity of Kirk’s murder is unknown, but Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old technical school student from Utah, is facing charges.

Trump has used his office and the courts to criticize defamatory or false statements about him since returning to the White House in January. Trump has threatened to revoke licenses for local broadcast affiliates of national networks throughout both his terms. The FCC, a purportedly independent regulatory body, approves licenses.

Disney’s action is the first significant media reaction to the Trump administration.

Carr threatened inquiries and judicial action against the licensed broadcasters who aired Kimmel on Wednesday, leading to the ABC suspending Kimmel’s program.

Numerous neighborhood TV stations that are connected to the ABC have announced they will no longer air the program, including Nexstar, which requires FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna.