EXCLUSIVE: Tuesday’s return of Jimmy Kimmel to late night TV was the result of days of meetings and negotiations with top Disney executives that only came to a resolution this morning.
“There was always a desire to do the best thing for the company,” an insider told Deadline of the direct talks and “thoughtful conversations” between Mouse House CEO Bob Iger, Disney Entertainment chief Dana Walden and Kimmel and his team. To that, the final sign-off on Kimmel’s return to his long running Jimmy Kimmel Live! was made this morning by Iger and Walden after a last minute flurry of paperwork, texts and calls with Team Jimmy, I’m told.
Having started the day after Kimmel was sidelined on September 17 and Live! was “preempted indefinitely” over remarks he made on-air about Donald Trump and MAGA’s reaction to the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charle Kirk, the conversations among the principals went over the weekend until an agreement was reached Monday. Amidst protests outside Disney HQ and more direct attacks from Trump at Kirk’s memorial on Sunday, whispers that something was up, and the guitars down protest at last night’s LA Lilith Fair documentary premiere by Sarah McLachlan and others over Kimmel’s benching, clearly whatever compromise was reached today was in Kimmel’s favor.
“Jimmy will say what Jimmy wants to say,” a source says of what restrictions, if any, were placed on the past Oscar host as a condition of his return.
Reps for Kimmel and for Disney(beyond the statement the company brought out earlier announcing the host’s return tomorrow) had nothing more to say about what was and was not agreed to ensuring the outspoken, “very talented and funny,” according to ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, Kimmel’s resumption of his show.
Live! will resume September 23 with a full audience in its Hollywood Blvd studio, guests and all the bells and whistles. Who those guests will be is in flux, with some of the people who were supposed to be on last week in the mix. It does appear that constant Kimmel foil Matt Damon will not be on the ABC later nighter Tuesday, at least as of right now.
No word yet what affiliate owners Sinclair and Nexstar, who both independently yanked Kimmel off their ABC stations over his “ill-timed and thus insensitive,” as Disney called them today, Kirk death response remarks, will do and if they will show Live! or not this week. In a rare move, Trump did not address Kimmel’s return while in front of the press this afternoon talking about autism causes and cures — though the ex-Apprentice host will undoubtedly toss something up on social media eventually.
On the other hand, Howard Stern had stinging comments today over Kimmel going dark. Additionally, the one time shock jock joined the cancelling of Disney+ groundswell.Before Disney statement that Kimmel would be back was sent out, Whoopi Goldberg and other hosts on ABC’s The View host spoke up. The View‘s resident conservative host, Alyssa Farah Griffin, added to that: “The First Amendment is the first for a reason, because you need to be able to hold those in power accountable.” Also today, as tensions rose over Kimmel’s situation, the ACLU letter released a letter signed by more than 400 luminaries such as Disney regulars like Meryl Streep, Selena Gomez, Kerry Washington, and Diego Luna plus , Ariana DeBose, Regina King, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jean Smart, and Noah Wyle.
On Wall Street, Disney stock was taking a bit of a hit too.
Deadline’s reports of dissent within Disney’s upper ranks and the widely spread negative reaction among top tier Hollywood talent to Kimmel’s “pseudo suspension,” as one source called it, last week stung the legacy concerned Iger and CEO contender Walden, I hear. However, individuals close to the action, insist that “outside pressures” or critiques had no significant impact on coming to a timely resolution.
“It became such a mess, the only solution for all sides was to get this over with sooner than later,” a Tinseltown power player in the Disney/Kimmel loop says.
As for Kimmel himself and how Tuesday night he will address the past week, and Trump’s “no talent,” “low ratings” swipes at him …well, stay tuned.
In another comedy context, all this sure could prove an untimely development for South Park, which already punted last week’s episode due to timing and fast moving current events — but that’s Paramount’s issue, not Disney’s