CNN Newsource
By Elizabeth Wagmeister, Brian Stelter, CNN
(CNN) — “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will return to ABC on Tuesday night, the network said Monday, ending a nearly weeklong standoff over the late-night talk show, even as major station owners said they would still keep the show off their airwaves for viewers in thousands of homes.
Sinclair and Nexstar Media Group, which together own about one in five ABC affiliates nationwide, both said they would continue preempting Kimmel’s show in a controversy that’s gone beyond late-night talk shows into questions of free speech and the First Amendment.
Sinclair, one of the country’s biggest owners of local TV stations, said its ABC affiliates will preempt the show “beginning Tuesday night.” Sinclair said it will air news programming in the time slot instead.
“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” a Sinclair spokesperson told CNN.
And Nexstar said its ABC affiliates will also continue to preempt Kimmel’s show.
“We made a decision last week to preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday morning. “We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
Brendan Carr, President Trump’s close ally atop the Federal Communications Commission, cheered the affiliate owners’ preemption of the resumed show in a social media post Tuesday. Carr wrote that “local TV stations — for the first time in years — stood up to a national programmer & chose to exercise their lawful right to preempt programming.”
Tuesday night’s guests of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will be actor Glen Powell, with musical guest Sarah McLachlan. The show will feature Ethan Hawke, Lisa Ann Walter and musical guest Yungblud on Wednesday, and Peyton Manning, Oscar Nuñez and musical guest Alex G on Thursday.
Both Powell and MacLachlan are promoting Disney-owned projects: Powell for Hulu’s upcoming sports comedy series “Chad Powers,” and MacLachlan is behind the Hulu documentary “Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery,” which follows the ’90s-era female-focused music festival founded by MacLachlan.
This past weekend, while Kimmel’s show was off air, MacLachlan refused to perform at the documentary’s premiere, stating that she was taking a stand in support of free speech.
How we got here
The Kimmel controversy erupted last week after conservatives criticized a Kimmel monologue comment on Monday about the MAGA responses to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Both Nexstar and Sinclair condemned Kimmel and contributed to ABC parent Disney’s decision to pull the show from the airwaves temporarily.
Kimmel said the MAGA movement was trying to score political points by trying to prove that the 22-year-old suspect accused of killing Kirk is not one of its own.
“The MAGA Gang (is) 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,” Kimmel said. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”
On Wednesday, two days after the monologue aired, Carr publicly suggested Kimmel should be suspended and invoked the FCC’s oversight of local TV stations.
Within a matter of hours two big station groups, Sinclair and Nexstar, signaled that they would preempt Kimmel’s show locally, and then ABC suspended the show altogether, a stunning move that started a national debate about government interference and freedom of speech.
Disney tried to explain its decision-making in a Monday afternoon statement announcing Kimmel’s return.
“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,” the Disney statement said. “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.”
Kimmel is planning to address the controversy in his monologue on Tuesday night, a source familiar with Kimmel’s plans told CNN. His show airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET.
Media analysts have watched as Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden have navigated competing pressures. Disney needs government approval for pending deals like ESPN’s pact with the NFL, while many of ABC’s station partners are in the same boat. Additionally, Kimmel’s contract is expiring in May and late-night TV audiences and revenue have been in decline.
Kimmel’s sudden suspension sent shock waves through the entertainment industry, where the comedian and long-time host is well-regarded, both inside and outside ABC.
His show employs between 200 and 250 people.
There were organized protests against Disney outside of the company’s offices in New York and Burbank, California over the past week, as well as outside the theater where Kimmel’s show is recorded in Hollywood.
Before news of Kimmel’s pending return on Monday, more than 400 artists, including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Aniston, signed an open letter, organized by the ACLU, in support of Kimmel.
Later, ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said ABC “made the right call” in returning Kimmel to air.
“It should never have suspended him to begin with and resisted the government’s desire to control what people say,” Romero said in a statement.
“Hopefully, other media outlets will also find their spines and resist the Trump administration’s efforts to cudgel them into obeisance,” he added.
Democratic lawmakers also celebrated news of Kimmel’s return.
“Thank you to everyone but @BrendanCarrFCC,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X. “This is a win for free speech everywhere.”
“This is big: Jimmy Kimmel is coming back!” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on X. “This is about fighting for free speech and against these abuses by Donald Trump and Brendan Carr.”
Carr did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Carr’s FCC colleague Anna M. Gomez, the lone Democrat on the commission, said in a statement, “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.”
“It will continue to be up to us as citizens to push back against this Administration’s growing campaign of censorship and control,” Gomez said.
PEN America, one of the many free expression groups that criticized Disney for seemingly caving to the Trump administration, called Kimmel’s return “a vindication for free speech.”
The ABC announcement is both “remedying his unjustifiable suspension, and reminding us that when people speak out to hold the powerful to account – it matters,” PEN America interim co-CEO Summer Lopez said. “We must all channel the same energy to fight the many assaults on free speech underway, including against those with less reach and resources.”
On Tuesday evening, just an hour before Kimmel’s return was set to air, Trump wrote on his social media platform, “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!”
The president suggested he would like to take legal action against the network, adding that Kimmel “is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative.”
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