Jimmy Kimmel is returning to his late-night show on Tuesday after it was pulled by ABC last week over comments he made regarding the killing of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.
The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, issued the following statement on Monday: "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. 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."
During a monologue on Tuesday's show, Kimmel said, "We hit some new lows over the weekend with 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."
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By Wednesday afternoon, Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr was threatening to take action.
"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 there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead," Carr said on The Benny Show, a podcast hosted by conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
Within hours, two local media companies — Nexstar and Sinclair — announced they would not air Kimmel's show on their ABC-affiliated stations. Statements from the companies called his comments offensive, inappropriate and insensitive. In a separate post, Sinclair also called for Kimmel to make a personal donation to the Kirk family and Turning Point USA.
Facing the loss of distribution and the criticism, ABC followed suit, pre-empting Kimmel's show on all ABC stations indefinitely, including those owned by Scripps News Group's parent company, The E.W. Scripps Company.
Andrew Kolvet, the spokesperson for Turning Point USA, which was founded by Kirk, said on X, "Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmell back on the air is not surprising, but it's their mistake to make. Nextstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice."
Officials with Nexstar and Sinclair have not yet publicly commented on whether or not they will reinstate the show on their ABC-affiliated stations.
