Disney announced Monday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would return to ABC Tuesday night, reversing the company’s Sept. 17 decision to suspend the late night show indefinitely.
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The suspension came after host Jimmy Kimmel faced Republican backlash for a monologue about far-right commentator Charlie Kirk’s killer, which led Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr to pressure ABC to punish Kimmel. Objecting to Kimmel’s comments, Nexstar Media Group announced that its ABC affiliates would pre-empt Jimmy Kimmel Live! indefinitely.
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Disney explained its reasoning for Kimmel’s suspension and the move’s subsequent reversal in a statement to press, saying, “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.”
The statement continues: “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 backlash to Kimmel’s suspension was considerable. Kimmel’s fellow late night hosts and hundreds of Hollywood celebrities decried Disney’s decision as a threat to free speech, and Disney+ and Hulu users canceled their subscriptions in protest.
According to CNBC, Kimmel will address his show’s suspension in his Sept. 23 return.
