By Abhishek Tiwari

Copyright republicworld

Washington: Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show, ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’, has been reinstated, announced ABC on Monday. The show was taken off the air after criticism over his comments regarding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The ABC officials stated that they had engaged in thoughtful conversations with Jimmy over the past days, culminating in the decision to return the show on Tuesday. Notably, ABC had suspended Kimmel indefinitely following remarks he made about Kirk, who was killed on September 10, during a monologue. Kimmel had said that many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk and that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them”.Kimmel, who has hosted ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on ABC since 2003 and has been a stalwart in television and comedy for even longer, is also renowned as a presenter, having hosted the Academy Awards four times. The backlash to Kimmel’s comments about Kirk was immediate as Nexstar and Sinclair, two of ABC’s largest affiliate owners, said they would be pulling ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ from their stations. Following which, others, including several fellow comedians, came to his defence. President Donald Trump, one of Kimmel’s frequent targets, posted on social media that Kimmel’s suspension was “great news for America”. He also called for other late-night hosts to be fired.In an interview with Variety this past summer, Kimmel was asked if he was worried that the administration would come after comedians. He expressed concern that a crackdown could be on the way. “Well, you’d have to be naive not to worry a little bit….But that can’t change what you’re doing,” he said. Kimmel’s suspension arrived at a time when Trump and his administration have pursued threats, lawsuits, and federal government pressure to try to exert more control over the media industry. Trump has reached settlements with ABC and CBS over their coverage. Trump has also filed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. The Republicans in Congress stripped federal funding from NPR and PBS.Brendan Carr, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, issued a warning prior to Kimmel’s suspension that criticised Kimmel’s remarks about the Kirk assassination. He said, “We can do this the easy way or the hard way…..These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” The suspension also happened at a time when the late-night landscape is shifting. CBS announced the cancellation of Stephen Colbert’s show over the summer. Kimmel’s contract with The Walt Disney Co.-owned network had been set to expire in May 2026.In the meantime, word of the reinstatement came as hundreds of Hollywood and Broadway stars, including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep, urged Americans to fight to defend and preserve the constitutionally protected rights in the wake of Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension. Over 430 movie, TV, and stage stars, as well as comedians, directors, and writers, added their names to an open letter on Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union that argues it is a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation. Also on Monday, ABC’s ‘The View’ weighed in on the controversy after not raising it for two episodes after Kimmel was suspended. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg opened the show saying “no one silences us” and she and her fellow hosts condemned Disney’s decision.