Late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel will return to air on Tuesday, less than one week after Disney’s ABC suspended Kimmel over inflammatory and erroneous comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
The Walt Disney Company announced on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will resume this week after the network engaged in a host of discussions with Kimmel. Previous reports detailed negotiations between Kimmel and Disney that focused on the former issuing a formal apology or clarification for his remarks.
“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,” the network 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 days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show.”
Kimmel attracted ire from conservative commentators and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) when, last week, he suggested without evidence that Kirk’s assassin was a right-wing extremist. Kirk was shot in the neck on September 10 at Utah Valley University by a man named Tyler Robinson, who said in private communications before Kirk’s death that he had “had enough” of Kirk’s “hatred.”
Kimmel also blamed Trump supporters for making Kirk’s assassination a political talking point.
“The MAGA Gang 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,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
FCC Chair Brendan Carr called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” before the show’s cancellation and suggested that the FCC would intervene if ABC did not.
“Look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Carr said on a podcast last week.
The network’s move faced pushback from critics who accused the company of bowing to federal pressure. Disney’s former CEO, Michael Eisner, criticized the company for giving in to “out-of-control intimidation,” and an ACLU letter signed by 400 prominent actors, musicians, and film directors described Kimmel’s cancellation as a threat to free speech.
“Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” the letter read. “In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives, and entertainers across the board. This runs counter to the values our nation was built upon, and our Constitution guarantees.”