Hit late-night show will be back on screen two weeks after Kimmel’s comments over killing of right-wing activist
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show will return on Tuesday after ABC decided to reinstate it.
The network had decided to suspend Kimmel indefinitely over comments he made about the assassination of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
The network had said it had done so “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.”
However, on Monday it said it had made the decision to bring the show back on the air, after spending the “last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy”.
Kirk,m 31, was shot dead as he answered questions at a campus event in Utah on 10 September.
In a monologue following the assassination, Kimmel had 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 presenter has hosted “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC since 2003, and has been a fixture in television and comedy for even longer. He has also hosted the Academy Awards four times.
Nexstar and Sinclair, two of ABC’s largest affiliate owners, said they would be pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from their stations amid a backlash about his comments.
Others, including several fellow comedians, came to his defence, and he was reinstated just hours after hundreds of celebrities signed a letter defending him, including actors Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep, and Robert DeNiro.
The letter described his suspension as a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation”, adding: “Efforts by leaders to pressure artists, journalists, and companies with retaliation for their speech strike at the heart of what it means to live in a free country.
“This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation.”
Donald Trump, one of Kimmel’s frequent targets, had posted on social media that the suspension was “great news for America.” He also called for other late night hosts to be fired.
The suspension arrived at a time when Trump and his administration have been making threats, pursuing lawsuits and applying federal government pressure to try to exert more control over the media industry.
The US President has reached settlements with ABC and CBS over their coverage.
In an interview with Variety in the summer, Kimmel was asked if he was worried that the administration would come after comedians. He expressed concern that a crackdown could be on the way.
“Well, you’d have to be naive not to worry a little bit,” he said. “But that can’t change what you’re doing.”
