Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show will return to ABC’s airwaves on Tuesday, nearly a week after it was suspended amid criticism of the host’s remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
But many households across the U.S. still may not see the show. Sinclair, a company that operates more than 35 ABC affiliates across the U.S., said that it would replace Kimmel with news programming.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” Sinclair said in a statement.
ABC's announcement ends an impasse that had drawn national attention, plunging Disney into a political firestorm at the intersection of debates over free speech and “cancel culture.” But the Sinclair statement highlights how ABC's decision is only part of the ongoing negotiations that would return Kimmel to TVs across the U.S.
Disney, which owns ABC, said in a statement 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,” Disney added.
ABC pulled the show Wednesday after Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr threatened regulatory action over Kimmel’s comments, which he described in a podcast interview as “the sickest conduct possible.”
Nexstar and Sinclair, two companies that own ABC affiliate stations across the United States, then announced they would yank Kimmel’s show. ABC followed suit, saying it would suspend the show “indefinitely.”
In a monologue last week, Kimmel expressed condolences to Kirk's family but criticized Republicans for their reaction to his killing.
“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,” he said.
The following day, authorities in Utah said that the man accused of shooting Kirk had “started to lean more left” in recent months and targeted Kirk for his “political expression.”
On Monday, the FCC chair denied that he threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of ABC affiliates.
"What I spoke about last week was that when concerns are raised about news distortion, there’s a way — there’s an easy way — for parties to address that and work that out," Carr said at a conference Monday. "That takes place between local television stations that are licensed by the FCC and what we call national programmers, like Disney. They work that out. There doesn’t need to be any involvement of the FCC."
The FCC, Nexstar and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. It was not clear as of early Monday evening whether Kimmel’s return would air on stations owned Nexstar.
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Kirk’s activist organization, Turning Point USA, said in a post on X: “Disney and ABC caving and allowing [Kimmel] 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.”
Anna M. Gomez, the lone Democratic FCC commissioner, hailed Kimmel’s return to the airwaves, saying in part: “I am glad to see Disney find its courage in the face of clear government intimidation. More importantly, I want to thank those Americans from across the ideological spectrum who spoke loudly and courageously against this blatant attempt to silence free speech.”
Disney’s decision to pull Kimmel's show had stoked intense uproar. The media giant was condemned by some unions, liberal lawmakers and prominent Hollywood figures, including former late-night host David Letterman, who said: “You can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian, criminal administration in the Oval Office.”
In an open letter released Monday by the American Civil Liberties Union, more than 400 celebrities wrote that Disney’s move represents a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
“We the people must never accept government threats to our freedom of speech,” the letter says. “Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.”
The stars who signed the letter include Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Selena Gomez, Tom Hanks, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joaquin Phoenix, Ben Stiller, Meryl Streep and Kerry Washington.
Meanwhile, “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof said he would not work with the company unless Kimmel’s suspension was lifted. (“Lost” aired on ABC for six seasons.) Tatiana Maslany, star of the Disney+ series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” called on her social media followers to “cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!” (Disney owns Hulu and ESPN.)
Yet some conservatives, galled by what they saw as Kimmel’s mischaracterization of the suspect in Kirk’s killing, cheered ABC’s decision. “We’re not done yet,” Carr told CNBC the morning after the announcement was made.
That same day, President Donald Trump said that the host was fired because of “bad ratings” after he said a “horrible thing about a great gentleman named Charlie Kirk.” Vice President JD Vance jokingly described Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “the new host of ABC’s late-night show!”
But not all Republican officials commended the FCC’s rhetoric and ABC’s move. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., raised concerns, with the latter telling NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Carr’s public comments were “inappropriate.”
“Brendan Carr’s got no business weighing in on this, but people have to also realize that despicable comments, you have the right to say them, but you don’t have the right to employment,” Paul said.
Carr, asked about the Kimmel saga at a conference Monday, insisted that Disney, “on its own,” made a “business decision” to pre-empt the late-night host’s show.
He then accused Democratic lawmakers of “distorting what happened here” with accusations of government coercion and censorship.
