Jimmy Kimmel’s return to late-night television has been met with a major setback as nearly 40 ABC affiliates, owned by Sinclair Inc., announced they will not air his program when it comes back on Tuesday.
Disney confirmed that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would resume broadcasting less than a week after suspending the host, but Sinclair has said it will preempt the show across its local ABC stations.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming,” the company said.
“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”
A preemption occurs when local station owners replace network programming with their own content.
Sinclair has stood by its position that Kimmel’s show will not return until the network addresses its concerns about professionalism and accountability.
Sinclair, which operates ABC affiliate WJLA in Washington, D.C., emphasized that viewers in the nation’s capital—including President Donald Trump and other political leaders—will not have access to the program.
The broadcaster also demanded that Kimmel apologize directly to the family of Charlie Kirk, as well as make a personal donation to both the Kirk family and Turning Point USA, the conservative campus organization founded by Kirk.
“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith said.
He added that broadcasters have a responsibility to foster respectful and constructive dialogue in their communities, according to Daily Mail reporting.
Kimmel had been suspended last Wednesday after controversial remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. On his show Monday, the host said the “MAGA gang” was attempting to portray the suspect as “anything other than one of them.”
Disney executives said they decided to pull the program in order “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.”
The company added that Kimmel would return after “thoughtful conversations” with management, though it did not specify whether he planned to apologize.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr criticized Kimmel’s comments and told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson he was considering an investigation into ABC.
He suggested that an apology would be a “very reasonable, minimal step.”
Carr’s comments came just hours before a wave of ABC affiliates announced they would no longer air the show until the matter was addressed.
The Daily Mail highlighted that reactions to the decision to bring Kimmel back fell largely along partisan lines.
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly commented, “Must be nice to be a leftist. ‘Cancellation’ lasts 5 nights and you’re right back under klieg lights. On the right you’re underground.”
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh argued that liberals were downplaying the seriousness of the situation: “Kimmel’s show was put on pause for like 3 days and yet leftists will look us dead in the eyes and tell us that this was a greater attack on free speech than shooting and killing Charlie Kirk.”
On the left, politicians and activists praised Disney’s decision.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) called it a “WIN” while taking a swipe at Trump.
New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, who had canceled a town hall with a local ABC affiliate over Kimmel’s suspension, called the reinstatement a “victory for free speech.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) also weighed in, using the moment to criticize FCC Commissioner Carr.
“Thank you to everyone but @BrendanCarrFCC. This is a win for free speech everywhere,” Newsom posted.
Libertarian journalist Billy Binion argued that conservative protests had inadvertently revived interest in Kimmel, saying, “Brendan Carr turned Jimmy Kimmel into a martyr. His ratings were sinking.”
“Now a lot of people are talking about & rooting for a comic whom they previously did not care about at all.”
Meanwhile, prosecutors in the Kirk assassination case released evidence last week pointing to a motive.
The suspect, Tyler Robinson, has been charged with capital murder.
In text messages to his trans-identifying partner, Robinson reportedly wrote, “I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.”
Another message revealed that Robinson’s father was a “die-hard MAGA” supporter after Trump’s re-election. Gov. Spencer Cox (R-UT) noted that Robinson’s views differed sharply from his family’s, describing the case as one rooted in radicalization.
