(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Host Jimmy Kimmel speaks at the Oscars in Los Angeles on Feb. 26, 2017. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — ABC will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show in the wake of criticism over his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials with the network said Monday.
“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,” ABC said a statement.
ABC suspended Kimmel indefinitely on Wednesday after comments he made about Kirk, who was killed Sept. 10, in a monologue. Kimmel said “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 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 defense.
Sinclair said Monday that it would not air Kimmel’s show Tuesday and would broadcast news programming instead. “Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” the company said. There was no immediate comment from Nexstar on its plans for Kimmel’s return.
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Kirk and now headed by his widow, posted on X about Kimmel’s reinstatement: “Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make. Nexstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice.”
Stephen Colbert joyfully reacted to the news during the opening of his “Late Show,” telling his audience that “our long national, late nightmare is over.”
Colbert, whose late show is being canceled by CBS after this season, said he was happy for his friend and the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” staff. Grabbing his recently-won Emmy Award for outstanding talk series, the comedian could hardly contain his glee. He added, “Once more, I am the only martyr on late night!”
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. He has yet to comment on Kimmel’s reinstatement.
Kimmel’s suspension arrived in 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 Federal Communications Commission, issued a warning prior to Kimmel’s suspension that criticized Kimmel’s remarks about 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 licenses 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.
Kimmel’s suspension has cast a spotlight on the web of business interests that require approval from the U.S. government. Disney, for instance, needs approval from the Trump administration for ESPN to complete its acquisition of the NFL Network, while Nexstar needs the administration’s approval to complete its $6.2 billion purchase of broadcast rival Tegna. Sinclair has petitioned the FCC to relax rules limiting broadcaster ownership of stations.
The suspension also happened at a time when the late night landscape is shifting. CBS announced the cancellation of Colbert’s show over the summer.
Kimmel’s contract with The Walt Disney Co.-owned network had been set to expire in May 2026. His representative did not return a message seeking comment Monday.
Word 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 Jimmy 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 after not raising 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.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said Monday evening he’s willing to appear at a town hall hosted by a local ABC station after earlier canceling his appearance due to Kimmel’s suspension.
