‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Sets Return Date After Controversial Suspension

Jimmy Kimmel Live! is returning to the airwaves after a brief suspension, as announced by ABC on Monday (Sept. 22).

The news comes just five days after the network temporarily shut down the late-night program in light of comments host Jimmy Kimmel made about the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. As parent company Disney worded it in a statement Monday, “We made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”

“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” the statement continued before revealing details of Kimmel‘s reinstation. “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.”

It’s hard to overstate just how controversial the move to remove Kimmel from airwaves was. In the days that followed the decision, numerous stars spoke up in the comedian’s defense, while SAG-AFTRA condemned ABC in a statement reading, “Suppression of free speech and retaliation for speaking out on significant issues of public concern run counter to the fundamental rights we all rely on.”

Also on Monday morning, just a few hours before Kimmel was restored, Selena Gomez, Olivia Rodrigo, Cyndi Lauper, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Sheryl Crow joined more than 400 other entertainers in signing an ACLU letter protesting the suspension.

“Last week, Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air after the government threatened a private company with retaliation, marking a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation,” the letter read. “In an attempt to silence its critics, our government has resorted to threatening the livelihoods of journalists, talk show hosts, artists, creatives and entertainers across the board.”

Donald Trump, however, sang a different tune throughout the debacle, celebrating the news of Kimmel’s show being put on pause — which happened only after the president’s own FCC chairman Brendan Carr threatened to revoke the licenses of ABC affiliates who chose to continue running the program — on Truth Social. “Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done,” Trump wrote on Sept. 17. “That leaves Jimmy (Fallon) and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!!”

Though Kimmel is now back in production with its return episode set for Tuesday night (Sept. 23), affiliates such as Nexstar and Sinclair — both of which decided to pre-empt the show in lieu of Kimmel’s comments — are still free to decide not to run it on local airwaves.

And if you’re still wondering what it was that sparked such outrage in the first place, the host’s remark on Kirk’s death was as follows: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang 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.”