Jimmy Kimmel was suspended after comments made about the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.
Upon his return, some ABC-affiliated stations owned by Sinclair and Nexstar will not air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”.
Kimmel’s show is set to return on Tuesday, Sept. 23, and will be available for streaming on Hulu the next day.
Jimmy Kimmel is back on the air after his Sept. 15 monologue on Charlie Kirk’s death, his politics, and President Donald Trump’s reaction to the Sept. 10 fatal shooting had him facing an indefinite suspension.
And in the midst of it, questions about free speech became the talking point.
Stephen Colbert called Kimmel’s suspension “blatant censorship,” and Jon Stewart said ABC’s decision was an “unprecedented consolidation of power and unitarian intimidation.”
The suspension followed comments by Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, who called the monologue a “very, very serious issue right now for Disney” and said there were some “calls for Kimmel to be fired.” Trump congratulated the suspension and said it was “great news for America.”
Here’s what all South and North Carolinians need to know about the suspension and when Kimmel is expected to return to the air.
What Jimmy Kimmel said: What did Jimmy Kimmel say about Charlie Kirk? Watch the monologue
When and why was Jimmy Kimmel suspended?
Kimmel was suspended after an opening monologue on Sept. 15, where he stated supporters of Trump were “desperately trying to characterize” Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old charged in Kirk’s murder, as “anything other than one of them.”
The monologue sparked ire from the FCC, and Walt Disney-owned ABC announced that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was indefinitely suspended on Wednesday, Sept. 17.
How long did Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension last?
It lasted a week.
On Sept. 22, the Walt Disney Company announced that Kimmel’s show would return to air after “thoughtful conversations.”
Late night speaks up after Jimmy Kimmel suspension
“With an autocrat, you cannot give an inch,” Colbert said in his opening monologue on Sept. 18. “If ABC thinks this is going to satisfy the regime, they are woefully naive, and clearly, they’ve never read the children’s book ‘If You Give a Mouse a Kimmel.’ And to Jimmy, just let me say, I stand with you and your staff 100%.”
And he wasn’t alone.
Colbert, Stewart, Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers rallied around their fellow late-night host offering not only to support but also to poke fun at Trump and decry what the administration was pushing. Even former late-night legends spoke out about Kimmel’s suspension.
“In the world of somebody who is an authoritarian, maybe a dictatorship, sooner or later, everyone is going to be touched,” former late-night host David Letterman said.
“I feel bad about this because we all see where this is going, correct? It’s managed media. It’s no good. It’s silly. It’s ridiculous. And you can’t go around firing somebody because you’re fearful or trying to suck up to an authoritarian, criminal administration in the Oval Office. That’s just not how this works.”
Has Jimmy Kimmel said anything about the suspension?
Not that has been reported.
Kimmel has been tight-lipped on the situation, and it has left many wondering if he will actually apologize for his comments about Kirk, as Sinclair Broadcasting has demanded.
When does ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ return to ABC?
People can tune in to Kimmel’s show on Tuesday, Sept. 23, on ABC at 11:35 p.m. ET.
Will ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ be available on all ABC-affiliated stations?
No. People will not be able to watch Kimmel’s late-night show on any ABC-affiliated sites owned by Sinclair or Nextstar
A Sinclair broadcasting representative stated to USA TODAY, “Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live! across (our) ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming.”
“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,” Nexstar said in a Tuesday statement.
Do Sinclair, Nexstar own any ABC-affiliated stations in the Carolinas?
WLOS is a Sinclair-owned ABC-affiliated station that broadcasts in Western North Carolina and throughout the Upstate of South Carolina.
Along with that, Sinclair owns:
WXLV out of the Greensboro/Winston-Salem, N.C. area
WCTI out of the Greenville/New Bern, N.C. area
WPDE out of the Myrtle Beach, S.C. area
WCIV out of Charleston, S.C.
Nexstar has no ABC-affiliated stations in the Carolinas.
Where can I stream ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’?
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is available for streaming the next day on Hulu.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.