After massive protests, ABC ended Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, says the show will return on Tuesday

BREAKING: Jimmy Kimmel is set to return to the air Tuesday night on ABC, The Walt Disney Company said.https://t.co/wKvs24s2Lg pic.twitter.com/7lY7Od5GXi

— ABC News (@ABC) September 22, 2025

“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,” said a statement from the network.

Jimmy Kimmel speaks at the Oscars on March 12, 2023. (Photo: AP)

Why was Jimmy Kimmel suspended

ABC suspended Kimmel indefinitely after comments he made about Kirk, who was killed September 10, in a monologue.

Kimmel said “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk” and that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

Backlash to Kimmel’s comments about Kirk was swift. Nexstar and Sinclair, two of ABC’s largest affiliate owners, said they would be pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from their stations. Others, including several fellow comedians, came to his defense.

What FCC Chair said

Brendan Carr, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, issued a warning prior to Kimmel’s suspension that criticized Kimmel’s remarks about the Kirk assassination.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “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.”

President Donald Trump, one of Kimmel’s frequent targets, posted on social media that Kimmel’s suspension was “great news for America.”

Jimmy Kimmel Live went on air in 2003

Kimmel has hosted “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on ABC since 2003 and has been a fixture in television and comedy for even longer. He is also well known as a presenter, having hosted the Academy Awards four times. Kimmel’s contract with The Walt Disney Co.-owned network had been set to expire in May 2026.

Suspension backfires in ABC

Kimmel’s suspension had invited widespread criticism from fellow comedians, Hollywood stars including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep.

More than 430 movie, TV and stage stars as well as comedians, directors and writers, added their names to an open letter Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union that argues it is “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”

Politicians from both Democratic and Republican parties, and many more everyday Americans, also made their displeasure clear with online and offline protests.

Many had accused the Disney-owned network of giving in to pressure from the Trump administration.