Disney plans to bring “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Back to the air on the ABC broadcast network from Tuesday, the company said in a press release.
The decision was announced for almost a week after ABC said that she was suspending the late evening show indefinitely. The network had pulled the show a few days after the host made comments connecting the alleged killer of the conservative activist Charlie Kirk to the Maga Movement of President Donald Trump.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production in the show in order to avoid igniting a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. This is a decision that we made because we estimated that some of the comments were poorly invented and therefore insensitive,” Disney said in a statement on Monday. “We spent the last days to have thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after these conversations, we made the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
The end of the evening host will address the question during his set of shows to be recorded on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the question, who spoke under the cover of anonymity to discuss internal questions.
After the days of discussion, Disney CEO, Bob Iger and Dana Walden, co -president of Disney Entertainment, made the decision to make the show, said the person. The two leaders informed Kimmel on Monday, added the person.
Jimmy Kimmel in Disney advertising in advance on Tuesday May 13, 2025.
Michael Le Brecht | Disney General Entertainment Content | Getty images
Hinders
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was suspended after Nexstar media groupWhich has more than 200 television stations broadcast in the United States, announced that its stations affiliated to ABC would preempt the Kimmel show. SincelairAnother large owner of the television station broadcast, also threatened to preempt the program.
Sinclair said in a statement last week that it would not increase the suspension on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Until he has official discussions with ABC “concerning the commitment of the network to professionalism and responsibility”.
The representatives of Nexstar and Sinclair did not immediately respond to requests for comments on Monday on the question of whether the affiliation stations would broadcast “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” On his return.
Kimmel said during his monologue last Monday that the “Gang Maga” was desperately trying to characterize this kid who had murdered Charlie Kirk as something other than one of them and do everything they can to score political points. “
“Between the tips of the fingers, there was mourning. Friday, the White House piloted the flags at half of the staff, which was criticized, but at a human level, you can see how the president takes care of,” he continued, by dipping a Trump clip on the lawn of the White House in which the president will fold a question on Kirk but quickly tracks to talk about construction.
Immediately after the suspension of the program by ABC, everyone, from artists to politicians, placed if Kimmel was to return to the air and if the incident should affect the broadcast licenses for station owners.
The president of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr had suggested that the ABC dissemination permit was at risk in the light of Kimmel’s comments, saying to CNBC last week: “We have not yet finished” with changes in the media landscape.
Trump suggested that the federal government could revoke the broadcasting station for networks that are “against” him.
The FCC did not immediately respond to a request for comments on Monday.
Networks like ABC are part of a system that forces them to obtain live spectrum licenses from the federal government in order to broadcast in local stations. Since networks are free to disseminate on the public spectrum – which means that anyone with an antenna can look at them – they must by law operate in “public interest”.
Nexstar and Sinclair are currently seeking to conclude agreements that would require regulatory approval.
Nexstar recently announced a proposed agreement of $ 6.2 billion to merge with its colleague owner of the broadcasting station TegnaAn agreement that would upset the long -standing regulations of the industry on the number of stations that a parent company may have.
And Sinclair said in August that he explored the merger options for his dissemination activities, although she has not yet concluded an agreement.
Political pressure
Kimmel’s suspension made comparisons with CBS Cancellation of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in July and raised questions on the protection of freedom of expression in an environment of dissemination of the Trump era.
Trump’s examination of media companies has intensified during its second term marked by high -level defamation proceedings, the financing of public diffusers and the regulatory interference of the FCC. He particularly distinguished ABC and NBC for what he called “the unfair coverage of Republicans and / or Conservatives”.
The current and former hosts of the late show rallied behind Kimmel after his suspension and said that the president’s influence was equivalent to censorship. The former Disney CEO, Michael Eisner, criticized the “intimidation” of the FCC d’ABC.
A letter organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, signed by more than 400 people, including Hollywood stars and artists, argued Kimmel, claiming that his suspension marked a “dark moment for freedom of expression in our nation”.
Meanwhile, the republican senator Ted Cruz of Texas criticized the CARR of the FCC for his comments related to the suspension of Kimmel.
And Monday, the candidate for New York town hall, Zohran Mamdani, withdrew from a town hall to come on an ABC subsidiary to protest the suspension of the Kimmel network.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of Nbcuniversal, owner of CNBC. Square would become the new mother company of CNBC on the spin-off of Comcast de Visant.
