The future of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has not been addressed after ABC pulled its host Jimmy Kimmel‘s late night show off the air.
Kimmel’s reboot of the beloved game show, originally hosted by Regis Philbin, was near the end of its fourth season when the network announced its decision to “indefinitely” suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday, September 17.
Millionaire, which Kimmel, 57, also executive produces, premiered on a high note in July when Matt Damon and Jeopardy! champion turned host Ken Jennings won the $1 million prize for the Oscar winner’s charity, Water.org. Subsequent episodes featured celebrity contestants including Joel McHale, Adam Devine, Jameela Jamil and Chloe Fineman.
The show aired weekly on Wednesdays until September 3. After that, it took a previously scheduled three-week break ahead of its return on Thursday, September 25, for the season finale, which has already been taped.
As of press time, the final episode — starring comedians Sarah Silverman and Marc Maron and The Office costars Oscar Nuñez and Kate Flannery in the hot seat — is still listed to air, according to ABC’s website.
Puck journalist Matthew Belloni also reported on Wednesday that the network had “no plans” to remove Millionaire from its schedule.
Us Weekly has reached out to ABC for comment.
Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel and Ken Jennings Disney/Christopher Willard
The Disney-owned channel confirmed to Us on Wednesday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be “pre-empted indefinitely” after its host made controversial comments about right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot on September 10 while speaking at Utah Valley University.
During his opening monologue on Monday, September 15, 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.”
The late-night TV lineup is undergoing a drastic shakeup this year. From the cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert to ABC abruptly pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the air, it’s been a time of upheaval for weeknight comedy programs. Here are the latest shifts in the 2025 late-night landscape: Stephen Colbert Canceled Scott Kowalchyk […]
The accused shooter, Tyler Robinson, was raised in a Republican family, but his political beliefs at the time of the incident remain unclear.
ABC’s decision to take Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air came just hours after President Donald Trump-appointed FCC chairman Brendan Carr slammed the Emmy winner’s comments and threatened to take action against the network, leading a group of station affiliates to become the first to remove the long-running show from their lineups.
Notably, the group’s operator, Nexstar, is currently awaiting approval from the FCC, which is overseen by the Trump administration, to complete a $6.2 billion purchase of a broadcast rival, Tegna.
Kimmel has yet to publicly respond to the news, but stars including Rosie O’Donnell, Ben Stiller and Jean Smart have expressed outrage on social media, arguing that the suspension violates the host’s right to freedom of speech.
Trump, on the other hand, celebrated the move, writing in part on his Truth Social Platform that it was “Great News for America.”
