Disney reinstates Jimmy Kimmel after suspension over Charlie Kirk remarks

US comedian Jimmy Kimmel will return to his late-night talk show on Tuesday after he was suspended for making jokes relating to the death of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk.

Disney, which owns the US broadcast network that airs Jimmy Kimmel Live, said on Monday that it suspended the show because it “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,” Disney said.

The comic’s abrupt suspension came after threats by the federal TV regulator to revoke ABC’s broadcast licence, sparking nationwide debates over free speech.

US President Donald Trump had welcomed Kimmel’s suspension and suggested that some TV networks should have their licences “taken away” for negative coverage of the president.

Trump did not address Kimmel’s reinstatement when a reporter asked about it during a White House event on Monday.

Twisters and Hit Man actor Glen Powell will be Kimmel’s guest on Tuesday, according to the show’s website.

However, Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group in the US, said on Monday it would replace the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! with news programming across its regional ABC stations from Tuesday.

“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” it added.

Sinclair previously called Kimmel’s remarks “inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country” and said it would not lift the suspension before having formal discussions with ABC.

Nexstar Media, one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the US, also said last week it would not air Kimmel’s show “for the foreseeable future”. It has not yet commented on Kimmel’s reinstatement.

Critics and First Amendment advocates railed against ABC’s decision last week as censorship and a violation of free speech.

Kimmel, who has hosted the late-night programme since 2003 and hosted four Oscars ceremonies, has not yet publicly addressed the suspension or the fallout.

The row started after Kimmel said in his monologue on 15 September that the “Maga gang” were “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them” and trying to “score political points from it”.

He also made fun of Trump’s reaction to the influencer’s murder, showing a clip of the president responding to a question about how he was mourning the death by changing the subject to construction of a new White House ballroom.

Kimmel compared the response to “how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish”.

Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chair of broadcast regulator the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), threatened to act against ABC and its parent company Disney over Kimmel’s remarks.

The spat comes as Vice President JD Vance and other White House allies have been pushing a national campaign to punish anyone who has criticised Kirk in the wake of his death.

Hours after Mr Carr made his initial remarks about Kimmel’s monologue, Nexstar said it would not air Kimmel’s show “for the foreseeable future”.

Sinclair followed suit and ABC announced that it would “indefinitely” suspend the programme and demanded an apology from Kimmel, as well as a donation to Kirk’s non-profit organization Turning Point USA.

Mr Carr thanked Nexstar “for doing the right thing” and said he hoped other broadcasters would follow its lead. Nexstar is currently seeking FCC approval for its planned $6.2bn (£4.5bn) merger with Tegna.

Anna Gomez, the sole Democrat on the FCC, said on Monday that she was “glad to see Disney find its courage in the face of clear government intimidation”.

Ms Gomez also thanked Americans across the ideological spectrum who protested against “this blatant attempt to silence free speech” and vowed to “combat these efforts to stifle free expression”.

ABC’s decision to suspend Kimmel was met with protests in California and lambasted by the writers and actors guilds, lawmakers and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who argued that the suspension violated free speech rights and spurs a chilling effect.

Hundreds of celebrities and Hollywood creatives also signed a letter backing Kimmel.

Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro are among those who called Kimmel’s suspension a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation”.

Critics of Disney also called for people to boycott Disney+, Hulu and other services in order to cut into the entertainment conglomerate’s bottom line.

Reacting to Kimmel’s return, fellow chat show host Jon Stewart joked on Monday that viewers had forced Disney to back down.

“I want to say this seriously, that campaign that you all launched, pretending that you were going to cancel Hulu while secretly racing through four seasons of Only Murders in the Building – that really worked. Congratulations,” Stewart said.

Other talk show hosts also shared support on their own programmes.

“Wonderful news from my dear friend Jimmy and his amazing staff,” noted Stephen Colbert, whose own show will be cut next year.

Seth Meyers described Kimmel’s return as “a massive national backlash to Trump’s crackdown on free speech”.

Dylan Byers from US media website Puck told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there has been “a lot of hand-wringing” at Disney since last week “about how to right this ship”.

The “blowback was intense” and came from figures ranging from former presidents and Hollywood stars to ex-Disney executives, he said.

“And at a certain point, I think that became too much.”

The journalist add that he, like many in Hollywood, would be “on pins and needles to see” what Kimmel says in his monologue on Tuesday.

Mr Byers added that Trump, in his second term, has had “no qualms about going after the media”, and in particular “any media outlets that he views as his adversaries”, but that there were concerns on both sides of US politics about the implications.

However, he said he would not put his money on the president – who has another three years in power – “dialling things down anytime soon”.