Jimmy Kimmel will be back behind the desk on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Tuesday (September 23) after ABC axed the show “indefinitely” last week following intense criticism over his remarks about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The network confirmed the late-night program’s return after what it described as “thoughtful conversations” with its parent company, Disney. The move comes days after the show was abruptly pulled from the air.
“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. 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,” an ABC spokesperson said.
The controversy began after Kimmel addressed the killing of Charlie Kirk during his monologue last week. “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 with everything they can to score political points from it,” he said.
The statement triggered swift backlash. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called on ABC to take action, saying, “find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” He also described Kimmel’s comments as “some of the sickest conduct possible.”
Within hours, Nexstar Media Group, which owns dozens of ABC affiliates, announced it would “preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future” due to its “strong objection” to Kimmel’s remarks. Sinclair Broadcast Group followed with a similar stance.
Disney then opted to halt the show, prompting days of internal discussions between the network and Kimmel as public pressure mounted from across the political spectrum.
High-profile entertainers including Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep condemned what they called “government threats to our freedom of speech.” Tatiana Maslany, who stars in Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, encouraged viewers to cancel their Disney subscriptions.
Kimmel’s fellow late-night hosts—Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and John Oliver—voiced their support, as did former hosts David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and Jay Leno.
Even Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican and chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees the FCC, weighed in. He warned that silencing speech through government pressure could set a dangerous precedent. “Democrats, when they next enter the White House, could use the precedent to silence conservatives,” he said.
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