Leadership at ABC and its parent company, Disney, appear to still be working toward a path to bring Jimmy Kimmel back to his late-night show.
Kimmel and executives met Thursday, according to multiple reports, but failed to reach an agreement that would’ve gotten him back on the air. Over the weekend, the sides stayed in touch and plan to meet again early this week, according to Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw. It’s unclear when that meeting will take place.
As of now, 6abc doesn’t have any program listed in its 11:30 p.m. time slot Monday.
Kimmel, who has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live since 2003, has been off the air since Wednesday over comments he made about slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a monologue last week.
“We hit 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 doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said during a monologue last week.
Two media companies that own local ABC stations across the county — Nexstar and Sinclair — announced they would preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live following a thinly-veiled threat from Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said in an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson Wednesday.
Nexstar has a $6.2 billion merger with another local TV owner, Tenga, that requires FCC approval.
Ultimately, executives at Disney suspended Kimmel, though they appear to be working to get him back on the air. One sticking point appears to be whether Kimmel needs to apologize for his remarks to please local affiliates. Sinclair, which owns 31 ABC affiliates, is demanding the comedian apologize and make a donation to the conservative organization he founded, Turning Point USA.
Jason Smith, Sinclair’s vice chairman, said the company wouldn’t bring back Jimmy Kimmel Live to its affiliates until “we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.”
Other than being spotted in Los Angeles Thursday, Kimmel has remained quiet and away from cameras during his suspension.
Disney has not responded to requests for comment, while ABC has publicly said just seven words on the matter: “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely.”
If ABC brings back Kimmel, an outspoke critic of President Donald Trump, could retaliate by forcing federal agencies to not grant approval for Disney’s deal to purchase the NFL Network and other NFL media assets. The NFL is slated to get 10% ownership in ESPN as part of the deal, and the league rejected Trump’s bid to purchase the Buffalo Bills in 2014.
“Given his interest in the NFL, and his history of using media mergers for leverage, it’s hard to see him not playing around with this,” former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told Front Office Sports last month. “I doubt this will be a straightforward commercial transaction.”
Some Republicans criticizing Trump’s crackdown on Kimmel
While Trump enjoys widespread support from Republicans, a few have criticized his administration’s heavy-handed approach dealing with a comedian and vocal critic.
Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) called Carr’s decision to threaten Disney and pressure the owners of ABC affiliate stations “absolutely inappropriate.”
“If you’re losing money, you can be fired. But the government’s got no business in it,” Paul said during an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday. “And the FCC was wrong to weigh in. And I’ll fight any attempt by the government to get involved with speech.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Tx.), an outspoken supporter of Trump since losing the 2016 Republican presidential primary, compared Carr’s threat to the comments of a mafia boss.
“I’ve got to say, that’s right out of Goodfellas,” Cruz said on his Verdict with Ted Cruz podcast Friday. “That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘Nice bar you have here, it’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”
Cruz said the government using its power to police political commentary is “dangerous as hell” and worried about what would happen to Republicans if Democrats win back majorities in Washington, D.C.
“They will silence us,” Cruz said. “They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous.”