Jimmy Kimmel's Show Resumes Following Suspension Due to Charlie Kirk Remarks

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Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show, which was abruptly pulled from the air last week after the United States government threatened broadcasters, will be back on Wednesday AEST, Disney announced.

The sudden suspension by ABC, which is owned by Disney, came after conservative complaints about comments Kimmel had made in the wake of the shooting of right-wing 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,” a company statement said.

“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.

“In the past few days, we’ve engaged in deep discussions with Jimmy, and following these talks, we decided to bring the show back on Tuesday.”

Kimmel’s abrupt disappearance from the airwaves, apparently after government pressure on broadcasters who distribute ABC, sparked fury in the US, with critics saying Kimmel had been targeted because he is a frequent critic of US President Donald Trump.

Trump had celebrated Kimmel’s removal, calling it “Great News for America”.

Opponents viewed it as the latest step in creeping government control of free speech — an article of faith for many Americans, as well as a right enshrined in the country’s constitution.

Some on the right were also uneasy, including people who regularly count themselves as Trump allies, like Ted Cruz, the conservative senator from Texas, and firebrand broadcaster Tucker Carlson.

Two days after the show was taken off the air, Trump again complained about negative media coverage of him, which he said he thought was “illegal”.

Jimmy Kimmel smiles as he is seated at a desk.

Just 48 hours after Kimmel’s monologue, Brendan Carr, the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, warned that ABC affiliates airing the show might have their licenses revoked. Source: Getty / ABC / Randy Holmes

The Kimmel episode unfolded a week after Kirk, a close Trump ally, was shot dead on a Utah university campus, setting off a bitter battle over responsibility in deeply polarised America, with conservatives — including Trump — blaming “the radical left”.

Authorities have charged 22-year-old Tyler Robinson over the killing and have not indicated they are looking for anyone else.

In his show-opening monologue last week, Kimmel said “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterise this kid … as anything other than one of them”.

He then showed footage of Trump pivoting from a question about how he had been affected by Kirk’s death to boasting about the new ballroom he is building at the White House, prompting laughter from the studio audience.

“This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish,” Kimmel said.

Two days later, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr threatened the licences of ABC affiliates that broadcast Kimmel’s show.

“I think it’s past time these [affiliates] themselves push back … and say, ‘Listen, we’re not going to run Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out because we’re running the possibility of licence revocation from the FCC,'” he told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson.

Hours later, Nexstar, one of the country’s biggest owners of ABC affiliate stations, announced it would be removing the show from its stations.

Nexstar is in the middle of a multi-billion-dollar merger with a rival that will require FCC approval.

ABC then followed suit, pulling the show nationwide.