Disney Reverses Course, Will Bring Jimmy Kimmel Back to Late Night

Company says in statement that ‘thoughtful conversations’ paved the way for Kimmel’s return to television.

Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Jimmy Kimmel thanks volunteer workers at a Las Vegas Democratic coordinated campaign canvass launch with Senator Jacky Rosen on October 21, 2024. Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Jimmy Kimmel will be back on late-night television as soon as Tuesday. The ABC talk show host will return to the airwaves following a brief but widely debated suspension, according to a statement released on Monday afternoon by the network’s parent company, Disney.

“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,” the Walt Disney Company said in a statement. “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.

It was not immediately clear why Disney executives suddenly reversed their decision to pull Mr. Kimmel off the air.

ABC and Disney were thrown into turmoil by Mr. Kimmel’s comments, in which he claimed a “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” His remarks came after Utah’s governor, Spencer Cox, had already indicated that the suspect held left-wing views.

The network’s decision to pull Mr. Kimmel’s show followed a warning from the Federal Communications Commission chairman, Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, who suggested his agency might have additional “work” to do if the companies failed to address the substance of Mr. Kimmel’s remarks.

Following Mr. Carr’s suggestion that station groups should refuse to broadcast Mr. Kimmel’s show, two major station groups — Nexstar and Sinclair — announced within hours that they would not air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Critics quickly noted that Nexstar had recently announced plans to acquire another station group, Tegna, a deal requiring FCC approval, and characterized the decision to suspend Mr. Kimmel’s show as an effort to secure regulatory approval for the acquisition.


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