Nexstar Media Group, one of the ABC affiliates which last week stopped airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! over the comedian’s remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, has announced it will continue pre-empting the late-night program.
While Disney-owned ABC made the decision to reinstate Kimmel—who returned to air on Tuesday night after a weeklong suspension—Nexstar has said it stands by its initial announcement “pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
Newsweek contacted Nexstar via email outside of regular business hours for further comment.
Why It Matters
The decision to take Kimmel off the air sparked criticism from lawmakers and free speech advocates, who interpreted it as an example of indirect censorship by President Donald Trump’s administration. Prior to the cancellation, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr had called on stations to drop the program over Kimmel’s comments, warning that broadcasters—some of whom had business pending before the agency—could face regulatory actions if they failed to comply.
The issue marks a significant moment in the ongoing national discussion on free speech, political influence over media and the boundaries of televised commentary.
What To Know
Last week, Nexstar said it would be pre-empting Jimmy Kimmel Live! on all its ABC-affiliated stations “for the foreseeable future.”
“Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets,” it wrote.
Nexstar is one of the largest station owners in the U.S., with over 200 owned or partner stations across 116 U.S. markets. The company’s ABC-affiliate stations can be seen on the map below.
Like Nexstar, Sinclair, ABC’s largest affiliate group, took issue with Kimmel’s comments about Kirk’s assassination and announced last week that it would “indefinitely pre-empt” the show. This week, the company upheld the suspension and said it would replace his show with “news programming” beginning Tuesday night.
What People Are Saying
Nexstar Media Group said on Tuesday: “We made a decision last week to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! following what ABC referred to as Mr Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse. We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve. In the meantime, we note that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets.”
Jimmy Kimmel, in his opening monologue on Tuesday, said: “I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human. And that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
Kimmel later said: “You almost have to feel sorry for [Trump]. He tried—did his best to cancel me. Instead, he forced millions of people to watch the show. That backfired bigly. He might have to release the Epstein files to distract us from this.”
What Happens Next?
Neither Nexstar nor Sinclair have stated when they expect Jimmy Kimmel Live! to return to their stations.