The fate of Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, has been decided after it was pulled off the air.
“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 Walt Disney Company said in a statement on Monday, September 22. “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.”
Us Weekly confirmed on September 17 that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was taken off the air by ABC after backlash over the host’s comments about Charlie Kirk and President Donald Trump. A network spokesperson told Us at the time that the show would be “preempted indefinitely.”
According to Variety, the decision came after Nexstar Media reportedly threatened to eliminate Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its lineup.
Nexstar told Variety its “owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network” would preempt the show “for the foreseeable future,” beginning with the September 17 episode.
The company added it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”
Two days earlier, Kimmel, 57, addressed Kirk’s death and his accused killer, Tyler Robinson, in his monologue after the controversial conservative commentator was fatally shot on September 10.
Kimmel accused conservatives of reaching “new lows” by claiming that Robinson was a supporter of the far left.
“The MAGA gang [is] 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 on September 15. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
After Kimmel’s show was pulled off the air, Us reported that Jimmy Kimmel Live! employees were uncertain about its future.
According to a source connected to the show, staffers were “initially told that the suspension was just going to be for the rest of this week.” However, due to mixed messages, “no one [knew what was] really going on.”
Prior to the controversy, Kimmel reacted to Kirk’s death via Instagram, condemning gun violence and sending his condolences to the Kirk family.
Many stars were shocked after news broke that ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s eponymous talk show following the host’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s death. An ABC spokesperson confirmed to Us Weekly on Wednesday, September 17, that “Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be pre-empted indefinitely.” The news came in the wake of Kimmel’s remarks about Kirk’s accused murderer, […]
“Instead of angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote on September 10. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”
Hours before ABC announced its decision to bring Kimmel back, 400 celebrities signed an open letter backing the comedian and his late night show. Supporters included Jennifer Aniston, Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Jean Smart, Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep and more.
Earlier on Monday, Kimmel’s cousin and frequent contributor, Sal Iacono, publicly addressed the show getting pulled, hinting on “The Bill Simmons” podcast that the team was “going to be all right.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live! debuted on ABC in January 2003 and was in its 23rd season when it was pulled off the air.
