Disney plans to bring “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back to air on ABC’s broadcast network beginning on Tuesday, the company said in a statement.
The decision was announced nearly a week after ABC said it was suspending the late night show indefinitely. The network had pulled the show days after the host made comments linking the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
“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,” Disney said in a statement 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.”
The late night host will address the matter during his show set to be taped on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.
Following days of discussions, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Dana Walden, co-chair of Disney Entertainment, made the decision to return the show to air, the person said. The two executives informed Kimmel on Monday, the person added.
Local station owners learned of the show’s return on Monday when Disney made the public announcement, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Jimmy Kimmel at the Disney Advertising Upfront on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
Michael Le Brecht | Disney General Entertainment Content | Getty Images
Broadcast pushback
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was suspended after Nexstar Media Group, which owns more than 200 broadcast TV stations across the U.S., announced its stations affiliated with ABC would preempt Kimmel’s show. Sinclair, another large broadcast TV station owner, similarly threatened to preempt the program.
Sinclair said in a release last week that it would not lift the suspension on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” until it had formal discussions with ABC “regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.”
As of Monday evening, a Sinclair representative said the company still planned to preempt the broadcast.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming,” according to a statement from Sinclair. “Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”
Sinclair owns and operates nearly 40 ABC-affiliate stations across the U.S., including one in Washington, D.C., according to its website.
A Nexstar representative didn’t comment on the matter.
Kimmel said during his monologue last Monday that the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
“In between the finger-pointing there was grieving. On Friday the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level you can see how hard the president is taking this,” he continued, teeing up a clip of Trump on the White House lawn in which the president fields a question on Kirk but swiftly pivots to talking about construction.
Immediately following ABC’s suspension of the show, everyone from entertainers to politicians weighed in on whether Kimmel should return to air, and whether the incident should affect station owners’ broadcast licenses.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr had suggested ABC’s broadcast license was at risk in light of Kimmel’s comments, telling CNBC last week, “we’re not done yet” with changes to the media landscape.
Trump suggested the federal government might revoke broadcast station licenses for the networks that are “against” him.
The FCC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Networks like ABC are part of a system that requires them to obtain over-the-air spectrum licenses from the federal government in order to broadcast across local stations. Since the networks are free to air over public spectrum — meaning anyone with an antenna can watch them — they must by law operate in “the public interest.”
Both Nexstar and Sinclair are currently looking to do deals that would require regulatory approval.
Nexstar recently announced a proposed $6.2 billion deal to merge with fellow broadcast station owner Tegna, a deal that would upend longstanding regulations for the industry on how many stations a parent company can own.
And Sinclair said in August it’s exploring merger options for its broadcast business, though it has yet to reach an agreement.
Political pressure
Kimmel’s suspension drew comparisons to CBS’s cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in July and raised questions about the protection of free speech in a Trump-era broadcast environment.
Trump’s scrutiny of media companies has intensified during his second term marked by high-profile defamation lawsuits, the defunding of public broadcasters and regulatory interference from the FCC. He’s particularly singled out ABC and NBC for what he called “unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives.”
Current and former late show hosts rallied behind Kimmel after his suspension and said the president’s influence amounted to censorship. Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner blasted the FCC’s “intimidation” of ABC.
A letter organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, signed by more than 400 people including Hollywood stars and artists, backed Kimmel, saying his suspension marked a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
Meanwhile, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas criticized the FCC’s Carr for his comments related to the suspension of Kimmel.
And on Monday, New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani withdrew from an upcoming town hall on an ABC affiliate in protest of the network’s suspension of Kimmel.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.
