Jimmy Kimmel Live! is heading back to the airwaves. The official announcement comes less than a week after being pulled indefinitely amid national outrage.
The Walt Disney Company released a statement today, announcing that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return tomorrow (September 23).
The abrupt reversal comes after mounting backlash over Kimmel’s comments following the assassination of conservative figure Charlie Kirk, who was fatally sh*t while speaking at Utah Valley University on September 10.
Highlights
- Disney confirmed 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' will return on Sept. 23, just six days after being pulled.
- Kimmel falsely implied Charlie Kirk’s shooter was tied to MAGA in a controversial monologue.
- The long-term future of the show remains uncertain.
Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel, who had his show suspended after comments about Charlie Kirk, will return tomorrow
Image credits: ABC
“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,” Disney said.
“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.
“We have spent the last few days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Image credits: Getty/Joe Raedle
During the September 15 broadcast, Kimmel opened the show with a monologue on recent global events, before pivoting to the fatal sh**ting.
Instead of turning the temperature down, Kimmel used the moment to suggest the suspect, Tyler Robinson, had ties to the political right.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who mur*ered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said.
The accusation was factually unsupported. No credible evidence has tied Robinson to right-wing politics; instead, available information more closely aligns him with groups that define themselves as “anti-f**cist.”
The host also took aim at Donald Trump, criticizing his reaction to the incident and implying the president had as much regard for the commentator as a “goldfish.”
Kimmel had previously offered condolences to Kirk’s family and called for the “finger-pointing” to end
Image credits: Getty/Juliana Yamada
Beyond his set staged applause, Kimmel’s comments surprised many, especially given his reaction to the attack just days before the broadcast.
“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to sh**t another human?” Kimmel wrote.
“On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless g*n violence.”
But the damage was already done. On September 17, ABC issued a statement slamming Kimmel’s on-air commentary:
“Comments about the d*ath of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located.”
Image credits: Getty/Kevin Winter
“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel’s broadcast a platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time,” the spokesperson added.
“We have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail.”
Some outlets suggest the decision was made to facilitate an acquisition by Nexstar Media Group
ABC’s decision was echoed by Nexstar Media Group, which owns over 200 TV stations in 116 markets across the U.S.
“Our owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show,” Nexstar’s representatives explained.
Certain outlets have suggested that the controversial move is due to a pending $6.2 billion acquisition by Nextar, which is in the process of buying rival broadcaster Tegna.
Image credits: ABC
The deal requires final approval from the Federal Communications Commission, now led by Trump-appointed Chair Brendan Carr, who made his opinion on the matter clear.
“It is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values,” Carr wrote on X.
Despite the chaos, Disney is now putting Kimmel back in front of the cameras. Whether this is a vote of confidence or simply a strategic cooldown remains unclear.
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