By Christian Blauvelt
Copyright indiewire
Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ to Return Tuesday Night as Suspension Ends
Read Next: 400 Hollywood Celebs Sign ACLU Letter Supporting Jimmy Kimmel — Without Suggesting Any Specific Action or Disney Boycott
Newsletters
Alerts & Newsletters
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 IndieWire Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ to Return Tuesday Night as Suspension Ends
The late night show was suspended “indefinitely” on September 17.
By Christian Blauvelt
Christian Blauvelt
More stories by Christian
400 Hollywood Celebs Sign ACLU Letter Supporting Jimmy Kimmel — Without Suggesting Any Specific Action or Disney Boycott
‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Teaser: More Meme-able Moments — and Sigourney Weaver
Kimmel Isn’t Roseanne or Gina Carano — This Time, Disney Hurt Its Own Wallet
September 22, 2025 4:01 pm
Protestors outside “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” following ABC’s indefinite suspension of the program at Hollywood Blvd on September 18, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Michael Buckner/Variety
Share on Facebook
Share to Flipboard
Share on LinkedIn
Submit to Reddit
Post to Tumblr
Print This Page
Share on WhatsApp
So “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” being suspended “indefinitely” really meant only preempting three airings in the end.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live” will return Tuesday night, September 23, The Walt Disney Company announced in a statement acquired by IndieWire Monday afternoon.
“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,” The Walt Disney Company’s statement reads. “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.”
Related Stories
400 Hollywood Celebs Sign ACLU Letter Supporting Jimmy Kimmel — Without Suggesting Any Specific Action or Disney Boycott
Kimmel Isn’t Roseanne or Gina Carano — This Time, Disney Hurt Its Own Wallet
On Wednesday September 17, ABC announced that they were suspending the show “indefinitely” following a joke that Kimmel made on air that many felt was insensitive and inflammatory in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination. He said that “We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and with everything they can to score political points from it.” Many felt that this remark implied the killer was MAGA, which evidence does not suggest is the case, though it is a fact that he comes from a conservative family of registered Republicans who did vote for Donald Trump.
IndieWire noted in the aftermath that Disney harmed its own business interests by capitulating to Trump. Kimmel was a serious investment of years and tens (if not hundreds) of millions of dollars. Someone who was a face of the brand, hosted “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” as well as his late night show, and had even hosted the Oscars for ABC four times. However, Disney also does need the Trump Department of Justice’s approval to go ahead with an acquisition of sports streamer Fubo as well as merging ESPN and The NFL Network.
The suspension had prompted days of discussion about the status of free speech in America and with serious criticism lodged from even conservative Republican senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul against the Trump administration for its coercive tactics in pressuring Kimmel off the air. Earlier in the day that Kimmel was suspended, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr went on a podcast and threatened that ABC could “do this the easy way or the hard way” in terms of getting Kimmel, a vocal Trump critic, off the air.
Kimmel’s suspension resulted in protests by free speech advocates in front of his Hollywood studio and an ACLU letter decrying his removal signed by 400 celebrities. Perhaps in a sign of ABC’s thaw regarding the suspension, the hosts of “The View” discussed Kimmel’s removal for the first-time on-air today, with Whoopi Goldberg suggesting that their previous silence had been out of respect for Kimmel to make a statement first.
Local affiliate companies Nexstar and Sinclair had previously stated that they would no longer air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” — which in the case of Nexstar was thought to be a performative act of currying favor with the Trump DOJ because Nexstar wants to merge with fellow affiliate company Tegna. Sinclair has long had a conservative reputation, but their stated aim of airing a tribute show to Charlie Kirk in lieu of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” did not come to pass, with their affiliates airing “Celebrity Family Feud,” like most ABC affiliates, in the timeslot instead.
What Nexstar and Sinclair will do now that ABC has announced Kimmel will return is unclear.
Kimmel’s suspension amounts to only three episodes of his show being pulled: His September 17 and 18 installments (Friday September 19 would have been a repeat), and the episode that would have aired Monday September 22.
Daily Headlines
Daily Headlines covering Film, TV and more.
More from IndieWire
Fall Festivals
Sales So Far Out of Venice, TIFF, and Telluride: Magnolia Picks Up Bob Odenkirk-Starring Actioner ‘Normal’
One Star After Another
Leonardo DiCaprio: ‘One Battle After Another’ Breakout Chase Infiniti and Paul Thomas Anderson Bonded ‘Immediately’
Late Night Wars
400 Hollywood Celebs Sign ACLU Letter Supporting Jimmy Kimmel — Without Suggesting Any Specific Action or Disney Boycott
‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Teaser: More Meme-able Moments — and Sigourney Weaver
Is ‘What Happens at Night’ Finally What Martin Scorsese Is Actually Working on Next?
Kimmel Isn’t Roseanne or Gina Carano — This Time, Disney Hurt Its Own Wallet
Daily Headlines
Daily Headlines covering Film, TV and more.
By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.
We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
IndieWire’s 52 Most Anticipated Movies of 2025
IndieWire’s 10 Most Anticipated TV Shows of 2025
The 25 Best Movies of 2024
More From IndieWire
Film Review
‘One Battle After Another’ Review: Paul Thomas Anderson Returns to the Modern World with a Blisteringly Hilarious Dad-Core Masterpiece
One Battle After Another
One Format After Another: How, Where, and Why to Watch Paul Thomas Anderson’s Latest Film in Every Way
Most Popular
ABC Pulls ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ Indefinitely After Host’s Charlie Kirk Comments
‘South Park’ to Skip Another Week as Creators Issue Last-Minute Statement
Jamie Lee Curtis’ Post About Jimmy Kimmel’s Suspension Is as Subtle as It Is Chilling
REVOLT Denies Dame Dash’s Chairman Appointment And Business Claims
You may also like
Stephen Colbert Cheers Jimmy Kimmel’s Return After ABC Ends Suspension: ‘Our Long National Late Nightmare Is Over’
rollingstone
Stevie Nicks Unearths Pre-Fame Letter She Wrote to Her Parents: ‘It Will Pay Off in the End’
Late-Night Hosts React To Jimmy Kimmel’s Return: “Our Long National Late-Nightmare Is Over”
Arizona State’s Poa Defeats Motion to Dismiss NIL Immigration Suit
IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 IndieWire Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
