Jimmy Kimmel Live! To Return Tuesday On ABC; Nexstar And Sinclair-Owned Stations Will Continue To Preempt
After a tumultuous week, Jimmy Kimmel is returning to ABC — with a few major exceptions.
Kimmel's late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return with new episodes Tuesday, TVLine has learned, after ABC shelved the show indefinitely last week in response to the host's recent comments about the killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
"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," ABC's parent company Disney said in a statement. "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. 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."
Despite ABC's decision to reinstate the show, however, it will continue to be preempted on the dozens of stations owned by both Sinclair and Nexstar.
"Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming," Sinclair said in a statement. "Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show's potential return."
Adds Nexstar: "We made a decision last week to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel's 'ill-timed and insensitive' comments at a critical time in our national discourse. We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve. In the meantime, we note that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets."
Kimmel's scheduled guests on Tuesday include Glenn Powell, promoting his new Hulu comedy Chad Powers, and singer Sarah McLachlan, who will perform.
On Friday, Kimmel's representatives were "deep in discussions" with ABC and parent company Disney "in the hopes of finding a path to a compromise that would allow for" the show to return, Variety reported. In another encouraging sign, Jimmy Kimmel Live! staffers were informed on Friday they would be paid for the following week while negotiations continued, per Deadline.
ABC announced last Wednesday that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be "preempted indefinitely" after Nexstar — which owns more than two dozen ABC affiliates nationwide, including stations in Nashville, New Orleans and other, smaller markets — decided not to air the show in light of Kimmel's comments. Sinclair, another owner of multiple ABC affiliates, soon followed suit.
"Nexstar's owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight's show," Nexstar said in a statement. "Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets."
Kimmel spoke about Kirk's murder in his monologue on Monday's episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, saying that "we hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it." FCC chairman Brendan Carr quickly took issue with his comments, threatening to penalize the stations airing Kimmel's show if they don't "change conduct and take action."