Jimmy Kimmel reinstated after hundreds of stars back free speech
After being taken off air for referencing right-wing activist Charlie Kirk during a monologue, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is to be reinstated. (Photo by Rich Polk/Variety via Getty Images)
In short:
US comedian Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show will be reinstated after being taken off air, following remarks he made referencing right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Hundreds of celebrities signed an open letter backing Kimmel and free speech.
What's next?
ABC affiliate Sinclair said it wouldn't air Kimmel's return and that discussions are ongoing.
Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show will return after being taken off the air over his comments about the shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Officials with the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company said: "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 network suspended Kimmel indefinitely after comments he made in a monologue about Mr Kirk, who was killed on September 10.
Kimmel said that "many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk" and that "the MAGA gang" was "desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them".
The show ran a clip of US President Donald Trump being asked how he was holding up in the wake of Mr Kirk's death.
"I think very good and by the way, right there, you see all the trucks — they've just started construction of the new ballroom for the Whitehouse," Mr Trump said.
Kimmel then mocked Mr Trump's response, joking that the US president was "at the fourth stage of grief: construction".
Kimmel has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the US ABC since 2003 and has been a fixture in television and comedy for even longer.
He is also well known as a presenter, having hosted the Academy Awards four times.
Supporters rallied outside the late-night show's location in Los Angeles. (AP: Jae C Hong)
Backlash to Kimmel's comments about Mr Kirk was swift.
Nexstar and Sinclair, two of ABC's largest affiliate owners, said they would be pulling Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their stations.
In response to his reinstatement, Sinclair said that it would not air Kimmel's show Tuesday and would broadcast news programming instead.
"Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show's potential return," the company said.
There was no immediate comment from Nexstar on its plans for Kimmel's return.
Others, including several fellow comedians, came to his defence.
Trump administration targets media industry
Mr Trump, one of Kimmel's frequent targets, posted on social media that Kimmel's suspension was "great news for America" and called for other late-night hosts to be fired.
Kimmel was asked in an interview with Variety this past summer if he was worried that the administration would come after comedians.
"Well, you'd have to be naive not to worry a little bit," he said.
"But that can't change what you're doing."
Kimmel's suspension arrived in a time when Mr Trump and his administration have pursued threats, lawsuits and federal government pressure to try to exert more control over the media industry.
Mr Trump has reached settlements with ABC and CBS over their coverage.
The US president has also filed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.
Republicans in Congress stripped federal funding from NPR and PBS.
Brendan Carr, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, issued a warning prior to Kimmel's suspension that criticised Kimmel's remarks about Mr Kirk's assassination.
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," Mr Carr said.
"These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead."
The suspension also happened at a time when the late-night landscape was shifting. CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert's show over the summer.
Kimmel's contract with the Disney-owned network had been set to expire in May 2026.
Word of the reinstatement came as hundreds of Hollywood and Broadway stars — including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep — urged Americans to "fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights" in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel's suspension.
More than 430 movie, TV and stage stars, as well as comedians, directors and writers, added their names to an open letter from the American Civil Liberties Union that argued it was "a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation".
Also on Monday, The View, which is broadcast by the same network, weighed in on the controversy after not raising it for two episodes after Kimmel was suspended.
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg opened the show by saying: "No one silences us," and she and her fellow hosts condemned Disney's decision.
AP