Disney and ABC have confirmed that Jimmy Kimmel will be returning with more of his live show starting this week, following the incident when his live show was pulled off the air.
Jimmy Kimmel Returns
A new report from Variety confirms that host Jimmy Kimmel will be returning with his usual Jimmy Kimmel Live! show starting this Tuesday, September 23.
In a statement from ABC, a spokesperson said:
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.
The statement goes on to explain that ABC and Disney have been in conversations with the host, and they have now decided to bring his show back:
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.
This news comes after reports that Disney and ABC were in talks with Kimmel this past Friday, September 20.
An article from Deadline revealed that said conversations regarding Kimmel involved Disney CEO Bob Iger, Disney Entertainment chief Dana Walden, Kimmel, and members of Kimmel’s team.
Iger and Walden reportedly signed off on Kimmel’s upcoming return to ABC this morning, “after a last minute flurry of paperwork, texts and calls with Team Jimmy.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live! was “preempted indefinitely” starting on September 17, 2025, following some remarks made by the host regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel had remarked during his show, “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.”
ABC was reportedly contacted by multiple TV stations, including Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group which are one of the biggest owners of local TV stations in the U.S. and the nation’s largest ABC affiliate conglomerate, respectively. At the time, The Hollywood Reporter noted that “an affiliate revolt may have played a role in the decision” to pull Kimmel’s show.
Neither Nexstar and Sinclair have made any official statements since the announcement of Kimmel’s return.
Disney’s decision to pull Kimmel’s air was met with instant backlash. Hundreds of Union actors and writers protested outside of Disney’s Alameda Avenue gate. Later, former Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner released a statement on X criticizing the decision as “out-of-control intimidation.”
More recently, The American Civil Liberties Union shared an open letter signed by over 400 artists denouncing Disney’s decision. The list of artists included several who have history working with Disney, including Tom Hanks, Jamie Lee Curtis, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana DeBose, Diego Luna, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Natalie Portman, and Martin Short.
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