One Day After Charlie Kirk's Memorial, Disney Announces It's Reinstating Jimmy Kimmel

UPDATE: 

The Walt Disney Company announced that its ABC network will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show after suspending him for his comments attacking MAGA conservatives over the assassination of Charlie Kirk. But major ABC affiliate networks Nexstar and Sinclair have now announced they still plan to block Kimmel's show from airing on their dozens of affiliate stations.

The Disney network had made its announcement on Monday, one day after the massive memorial service for Kirk, as millions of Americans mourned his murder. The show returns on Tuesday night. "We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show,” the network said in a statement.

Last week, Kimmel faced backlash as Nexstar and Sinclair revealed they planned to pull his show from the nearly 70 ABC stations they own, which led Disney to suspend Kimmel.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr's Role in the Controversy

Brendan Carr, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, had also issued a warning to Disney and ABC last week to take action against Kimmel, threatening, "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." 

At the time of Carr's comments, Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said Carr was opening a "dangerous" door. Cruz warned about using the FCC for any type of political agenda, saying that "every conservative in America … will regret it" one day, contending that future administrations could then use the FCC against conservatives too.

"What [Carr] is saying is, 'Jimmy Kimmel was lying.' That's true, [Kimmel] was lying, and lying to the American people is not in the public interest," Cruz said. "[Carr] threatens explicitly—we're going to cancel ABC News' license. We're going to take him off the air..."

Cruz continued, "But let me tell you, if the government gets in the business of saying 'we don't like what you, the media, have said, we're going to ban you from the airwaves' … that will end up bad for conservatives."

"The next Democrat FCC—they will silence us," Cruz said. "They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly, and that is dangerous," because he says they've already "defined anything counter to the leftist narrative as misinformation."

This week, Carr denied that he had explicitly threatened to revoke ABC's local station licenses because of Kimmel's remarks. “Jimmy Kimmel is in the situation he’s in because of his ratings. Not because of anything that’s happened at the federal government level,” Carr argued at the Concordia Annual Summit.

ACLU and Hollywood Activists Get Involved

Even as Kimmel had accused MAGA conservatives of trying to capitalize on Kirk's assassination, the ACLU put out a fundraising letter signed by hundreds of Hollywood celebrities seeking financial help during this "dark moment for freedom of speech." 

Celebrities like Debra Messing, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Bacon, Mark Ruffalo, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, and Robert DeNiro signed the letter.

Meanwhile, Bill Maher criticized celebrities who ignored Charlie Kirk's murder at the recent Emmys, saying, "Since they all want to talk about their politics, would it have killed somebody to get up there, not give a speech about how much they like Charlie Kirk, just to say, 'we had a political assassination this week, and that's wrong...'  They would have been booed off the stage because he was on the wrong team, so you're not even allowed to say that. Can you imagine if a left-wing person was assassinated that week, the whole show would have been about that."

Background

The ABC network took action last Wednesday to suspend Kimmel's flagging show following controversial claims he made about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. 

The network made the move after significant pushback from the Nexstar Media Group and the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which together own close to 70 ABC affiliate TV stations.

Nexstar and Sinclair both announced they would block “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from airing indefinitely. And Sinclair had decided to air a special in remembrance of Charlie Kirk on Friday, in Jimmy Kimmel Live's timeslot. 

Kimmel had declared on TV that the assassin who murdered Charlie Kirk was a member of "the MAGA gang" – a claim which investigators have refuted by revealing evidence they've uncovered about the primary suspect.

Kimmel also claimed that "many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk."

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr called the comments "truly sick," contending that Kimmel was spreading misinformation. Carr said the FCC has a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC, and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for what appeared to be an intentional effort to mislead the public. 

“This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney,” Carr said on the Benny Johnson podcast. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

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One FCC Commissioner, Anna Gomez, protested the move, accusing the administration of "using the weight of government power to suppress lawful expression."

But Nexstar's broadcasting division president, Andrew Alford, had criticized Kimmel's accusations about Kirk's death as being "offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse."

And Sinclair called upon Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family, asking him to also "make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA."

“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” said Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith. “We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities. We appreciate FCC Chairman Carr’s remarks today and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.”

Much like the now-fired CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, Kimmel's ABC show has often veered into anti-Trump political commentary.

AP reports that a spokesperson for Kimmel did not immediately return a call for comment. And there was no immediate comment from Kimmel, whose contract was already set to end in May 2026.