Disney said in a statement Monday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will return to its ABC broadcast on Tuesday.
Last week, ABC said it was suspending the late night show indefinitely, days after the host made comments linking the alleged killer of conservative activist Charlie Kirk to President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement.
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr had suggested ABC’s broadcast license was at risk in light of the comments, telling CNBC “we’re not done yet” with changes to the media landscape.
The suspension drew comparisons to CBS’s cancellation of “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” in July and raised questions about the protection of free speech in a Trump-era broadcast environment.
Trump’s scrutiny of media companies has intensified during his second term marked by high-profile defamation lawsuits, the defunding of public broadcasters and regulatory interference from the FCC. He’s particularly singled out ABC and NBC for what he called “unfair coverage of Republicans and/or Conservatives.”
Current and former late show hosts including Colbert and David Letterman rallied behind Kimmel after the suspension and said the president’s influence amounted to censorship. Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner blasted the FCC’s “intimidation” of ABC.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal, which owns CNBC. Versant would become the new parent company of CNBC upon Comcast’s planned spinoff of Versant.