Geline Salac

TV host Jimmy Kimmel walks onstage with a donkey during the 95th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 12, 2023. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP

Article (news)

TV host Jimmy Kimmel

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:454px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17585798121261758579809721.png" style="width:566px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">TV host Jimmy Kimmel walks onstage with a donkey during the 95th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on March 12, 2023. <em>Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>LOS ANGELES, United States - Jimmy Kimmel&#x27;s late night talk show, which was abruptly <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/celebrities/2025/9/18/jimmy-kimmel-show-off-air-indefinitely-after-charlie-kirk-comments-0829">pulled from the air</a> last week after the US government threatened broadcasters, will be back on Tuesday, Disney announced Monday.</p><p>The sudden suspension by ABC, which is owned by Disney, came after conservative complaints about comments Kimmel had made in the wake of the shooting of Christian activist Charlie Kirk.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qTHorGO9uv8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>&quot;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,&quot; said a company statement.</p><p>&quot;It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.</p><p>&quot;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.&quot;</p><p>Kimmel&#x27;s abrupt disappearance from the airwaves, apparently after government pressure on broadcasters who distribute ABC, sparked fury in liberal America, with critics saying Kimmel had been targeted because he is a frequent critic of President Donald Trump.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6XAGc0wwtPw?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Trump had celebrated Kimmel&#x27;s removal, calling it &quot;Great News for America.&quot;</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/97xZSVhNfR4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Opponents saw it as the latest step in creeping government control of free speech -- an article of faith for many Americans, as well as a right enshrined in the country&#x27;s constitution.</p><p>Some on the right were also uneasy, including people who regularly count themselves as Trump allies, like Ted Cruz, the conservative senator from Texas, and firebrand broadcaster Tucker Carlson.</p><p>On Friday, Trump again complained about negative media coverage of him, which he said he thought was &quot;<a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/9/20/trump-says-his-negative-media-coverage-is-illegal-1516">illegal</a>.&quot;</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- FCC threat -</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>The Kimmel episode unfolded a week after Kirk, a close Trump ally, was shot dead on a Utah university campus, setting off a bitter battle over responsibility in deeply polarized America, with conservatives -- including Trump -- blaming &quot;the radical left.&quot;</p><p>Authorities have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson and have not indicated they are looking for anyone else.</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JU6YD3QK48w?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>In his show-opening monologue last Monday, Kimmel said &quot;the MAGA gang&quot; was &quot;desperately trying to characterize this kid... as anything other than one of them.&quot;</p><p>He then showed footage of Trump pivoting from a question about how he had been affected by Kirk&#x27;s death to boasting about the new ballroom he is building at the White House, prompting laughter from the studio audience.</p><p>&quot;This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,&quot; Kimmel said.</p><p>Two days later, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr threatened the licenses of ABC affiliates that broadcast Kimmel&#x27;s show.</p><p>&quot;I think it&#x27;s past time these (affiliates) themselves push back... and say, &#x27;Listen, we&#x27;re not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we&#x27;re running the possibility of license revocation from the FCC,&#x27;&quot; he told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson.</p><p>Hours later, Nexstar, one of the country&#x27;s biggest owners of ABC affiliate stations, announced it would be removing the show from its stations.</p><p>Nexstar is in the middle of a multi-billion-dollar merger with a rival that will require FCC approval.</p><p>ABC then followed suit, pulling the show nationwide.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Hollywood stars -</strong></div><div><br/></div><p>Before Disney&#x27;s about-face was announced on Monday, a constellation of Hollywood stars signed an open letter calling the decision to pull the show &quot;a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation (that is) unconstitutional and un-American.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The government is threatening private companies and individuals that the President disagrees with. We can&#x27;t let this threat to our freedom of speech go unanswered,&quot; said the letter by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).</p><p>Signatories to the letter included Marvel star Pedro Pascal, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro.</p><p>hg/jgc</p><p>© Agence France-Presse</p><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mp_15CS4WoE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-936DVdBvYc?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show, which was abruptly pulled from the air last week after the US government threatened broadcasters, will be back on Tuesday, Disney announced Monday.</p>

Jimmy Kimmel's late night talk show, which was abruptly pulled from the air last week after the US government threatened broadcasters, will be back on Tuesday, Disney announced Monday.

Jimmy Kimmel show to return Tuesday: Disney

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Jimmy Kimmel show to return Tuesday: Disney

Agence France-Presse

Published Sep 23, 2025 06:29 AM PHT

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