Jimmy Kimmel will return to his late-night talk show on Tuesday after Disney suspended the programme over comments he made about the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Disney, the parent company of ABC which airs Jimmy Kimmel Live!, announced on Monday that the suspension had been lifted.
"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 company said, noting that it had initially considered the remarks “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
The suspension triggered heated national debates on censorship and free speech after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) threatened to strip ABC of its licence.
The move also drew political attention, with President Donald Trump welcoming the suspension and suggesting that TV networks critical of him should have their licences revoked. However, he avoided commenting on Kimmel’s reinstatement when asked at a White House event.
Despite Disney’s decision, Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest operator of ABC affiliates, said it will pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from its stations starting Tuesday, replacing it with news programming. “Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” Sinclair said, maintaining its stance that Kimmel’s remarks were “inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country.” Nexstar Media, another major TV station owner, had also declared it would not air the show “for the foreseeable future” and has not yet responded to the reinstatement.
The controversy stems from Kimmel’s September 15 monologue, where he accused the “Maga gang” of trying to “characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” while attempting to “score political points from it.”
He went on to mock Trump’s reaction, playing a clip in which the president shifted a question about Kirk’s death to the construction of a new White House ballroom. Kimmel compared Trump’s response to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
FCC chair Brendan Carr, appointed by Trump, threatened to act against Disney and ABC following the broadcast.
He praised Nexstar for refusing to air the show and called on other broadcasters to follow suit, while Nexstar itself is seeking FCC approval for a multibillion-dollar merger with Tegna. ABC had also demanded that Kimmel apologise and make a donation to Kirk’s organisation, Turning Point USA.
Anna Gomez, the only Democrat on the FCC, accused the regulator of intimidation.
“I am glad to see Disney find its courage in the face of clear government intimidation,” she said, while also thanking Americans across the political divide who opposed “this blatant attempt to silence free speech.”
Kimmel, who has hosted the late-night programme since 2003 and has fronted four Academy Awards ceremonies, has not publicly addressed his suspension.
The network’s decision sparked protests in California, condemnation from rights groups, and strong criticism from Hollywood. Writers’ and actors’ guilds, lawmakers, and the American Civil Liberties Union said the suspension undermined free expression and created a chilling effect.
High-profile actors including Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro joined more than a hundred celebrities in signing a letter calling the suspension a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
Fellow late-night hosts Jon Stewart, John Oliver and Stephen Colbert also stood in solidarity with Kimmel.
Meanwhile, critics of Disney urged audiences to cancel subscriptions to its streaming platforms such as Disney+ and Hulu in protest of the suspension.
