Jimmy Kimmel will be back on ABC Tuesday, but the country’s largest owner of its local affiliate stations won’t air his show as he still refuses to apologize for his incendiary, false claim about Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer.
The $15 million-per-year ABC late-night host negotiated his return to the airwaves directly with Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger and his No. 2, Disney Entertainment Co-Chair Dana Walden, sources with knowledge of the situation told The Post.
Kimmel will address the controversy during his monologue on Tuesday though he will stop short of apologizing, the sources said.
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The episode, however, won’t be aired on dozens of local ABC stations owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which announced Monday night that it will instead air news programming in its place.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” the company said in a statement.
In response, Turning Point USA posted on X, “Good for @WeAre-Sinclair for blocking Kimmell [sic] from its 31 ABC affiliates. Reminder, Kimmell has yet to apologize for saying the assassin was MAGA, and he was reportedly going to double down. He’s an unrepentant liar, and affiliates have every right to demand accountability.”
Sinclair had previously demanded Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family and pledge a donation to Turning Point USA, the activist group Kirk founded.
Nexstar Media Group, the other largest ABC station owner, has not yet said whether it’ll air Kimmel on its stations Tuesday. The Post has sought comment from the company.
Both media conglomerates had successfully pushed ABC to yank him from the airways for the Sept. 15 comments about Kirk’s assassination.
In a statement Monday, Disney said it suspended Kimmel last Wednesday “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” calling some of his comments “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
The suspension followed a monologue in which Kimmel claimed Kirk was killed by other Trump supporters — despite authorities saying the alleged shooter had left-wing views.
It remains unclear what Disney and Kimmel agreed to secure his return to air. The company has not disclosed whether the talks involved new contract terms or a donation to Kirk’s organization. Reports have suggested those points were central to discussions, but no final details have been confirmed.
Kimmel’s current contract with ABC runs through May 2026, following a three-year extension signed in 2022. He reportedly earns between $15 and $16 million per year, with total compensation potentially exceeding $20 million with bonuses.
The move left Disney squeezed from both sides: conservatives enraged by Kimmel’s remarks and his apparent refusal to apologize, and liberals angered that the company appeared to bow to pressure from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and pro-Trump voices.
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner ripped the company for pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in the first place.
Eisner accused Disney of capitulating to “intimidation” from Washington regulators and demanded to know, “Where has all the leadership gone?”
“Maybe the Constitution should have said, ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except in one’s political or financial self-interest,’” Eisner added.
The suspension drew fire from organized labor as well.
SAG-AFTRA, which represents film and television actors as well as dancer, stunt performers and singers, blasted the decision, calling it retaliation for speech on matters of public concern and warning it endangered all Americans’ freedoms.
“Our society depends on the free and open exchange of ideas,” the union declared, urging Disney to reinstate the program immediately and vowing solidarity with media artists.
In a follow-up statement on Monday, SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin said “Disney made the right decision” to bring back Kimmel’s show.
“Media companies have the right to make choices about their programming, but performers have the right to be treated justly and not to be silenced for expressing their views,” Astin said in a statement.
Hollywood’s top names also lined up behind Kimmel.
Howard Stern called the suspension “horrible” and “outrageous,” announced he had canceled his Disney+ subscription, and decried what he called government pressure to silence a broadcaster.
David Letterman, the former late night host, branded the move “misery,” saying ABC was bowing to “an authoritarian criminal administration” and revealing he had privately texted Kimmel to say he would be “fine.”
Stephen Colbert labeled the suspension “blatant censorship” designed to appease President Trump.
Jimmy Fallon offered his support on air while vowing to keep making jokes about the president.
An ACLU-organized open letter condemning Disney’s suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” drew signatures from roughly 400 Hollywood figures — including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston, Robert De Niro, and more — urging support for free speech. The letter frames Kimmel’s suspension as occurring amid pressure from FCC chair Brendan Carr and affiliate threats by Nexstar and Sinclair, and calls on Americans to defend the right to speak without government or corporate retaliation.
“We now find ourselves in a modern McCarthy era, facing exactly the type of heavy-handed government censorship our Constitution rightfully forbids,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, which organized the letter.
“The silencing of Jimmy Kimmel and jawboning of media outlets through lawsuits and threats to their licenses evoke dark memories of the 1950s. We must remember, however, that Senator McCarthy was ultimately disgraced and neutralized once Americans mobilized and stood up to him. We must do the same today because together, our voices are louder and together, we will fight to be heard.”
The White House, meanwhile, denied that Kimmel’s suspension was the result of government-driven suppression of speech.
“This has nothing to do with free speech,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Post, adding that “low-ratings loser Kimmel is free to make whatever bad jokes he wants, but a private company is under no obligation to lose money producing unpopular shows.”
“Jimmy Kimmel’s terrible product isn’t a free speech problem; it’s a talent problem,” Jackson said.
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