Comedian Jimmy Kimmel has signed a one-year contract extension with ABC, which guarantees the continuity of Jimmy Kimmel Live! until 2027, after the temporary suspension of his show last September amid pressure from the White House, U.S. media confirmed Monday.
Kimmel’s contract extension cited by trade media outlet the Hollywood Reporter comes after Disney subsidiary ABC abruptly suspended ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on Sept. 17 after the host criticized President Donald Trump’s administration’s response to the murder of ultra-conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, who is close to Trump, had threatened to revoke the licenses of ABC affiliates if the network did not punish Kimmel.
The suspension of the program sparked a wave of criticism and concern for freedom of expression in the country. ABC reinstated the comedian on September 23, a week later, and his return achieved an audience of 6.3 million viewers, the highest figure in ten years.
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In his controversial monologue, Kimmel satirized Trump’s MAGA political movement by claiming that they had done “the impossible to show the guy who killed Charlie Kirk as if he wasn’t one of them and, in the process, took advantage of it for political mileage.”
The controversy boosted the comedian’s popularity, which according to a poll by YouGov and The Economist, put him 4 percentage points above the U.S. president last October.
Trump had celebrated the announcement of the cancellation, claiming that Kimmel has no talent, and then reacted with disbelief upon learning that the program was back on the air, reported Agencia EFE.
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