Midway through last week, Disney and ABC yanked Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the airwaves, announcing an indefinite suspension after comments its host made about the death of Charlie Kirk. The response from politicians, union leaders, free-speech advocates, and Kimmel’s Hollywood peers (including Andor Emmy winner Dan Gilroy, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof, and Marvel star Tatiana Maslany) was near-immediate, and a Disney boycott, including a call to cancel Disney+ subscriptions, went viral just as fast. And as many started to suspect late last week, it didn’t take long for Disney to stand down.
As Variety reports, Kimmel’s show will be back on tomorrow. Disney’s statement, as printed by the trade, is as follows:
“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.”
The Hollywood Reporter included a caveat with that: “Despite Kimmel’s return, it is not immediately clear if he will be available across the entire country. Sinclair, for its part, had said that it would not go back to running Kimmel’s show on its stations until the late-night host apologized for his comments, met with Sinclair representatives, and made a donation to Turning Point, the organization that Kirk founded.”
This news just dropped, so you can expect Kimmel’s supporters and critics to be taking over social media soon with their responses. And even if your local station doesn’t choose to pick up the revived Jimmy Kimmel Live!, you can still watch it online after it airs live. No doubt there’ll be a rather huge audience curious to hear what he has to say during his first monologue back.
Update, Sept. 22, 8:20 p.m.: Variety reports Sinclair affiliate stations will not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! upon its return, substituting “news programming” instead. A spokesperson told the trade that “Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”
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