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Less than a week after his suspension, it was announced by ABC on Monday that Jimmy Kimmel and his late night talk show will be reinstated to the airwaves by ABC on Tuesday. Kimmel had been “indefinitely suspended” after some comments he made about the death of Charlie Kirk last week.
“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,” ABC parent The Walt Disney Company said in a statement shared by The Hollywood Reporter on Monday. “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.”
Jimmy Kimmel reportedly was suspended in part because he refused to apologize for what he said. He had also reportedly planned to defend his remarks on his show the next day.
Jimmy Kimmel has the support of Hollywood, but his show may still be pre-empted
Following numerous high-profile names coming out in support of Kimmel based on the right to free speech, over 100,000 people signed a petition within 24 hours asking for his return to TV. An open letter signed by more than 400 actors, writers, musicians and filmmakers, including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman, Robert De Niro, Selena Gomez, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, also called for ABC to reinstate Kimmel’s show
On Monday, it was reported that Disney and Jimmy Kimmel were in talks to bring his show back on the air but tone down the “political rhetoric.” Kimmel reportedly still stated that he wasn’t going to apologize, but that may change.
His reinstatement to the air by ABC doesn’t mean that he will be back on everyone’s televisions, however. Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates nearly 40 ABC affiliates, said it would not put Jimmy Kimmel’s show back on its channels until they “are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.” Those steps were to include issuing a direct apology to Kirk’s family and to make a personal donation both to his family and his organization, Turning Point USA. Nexstar Media Group, which operates 28 ABC affiliates, had also stated that it would not be airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! in the wake of the host’s comments.