The Walt Disney Co. announced Monday that Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show will return to the air six days after production was halted because of the comedian's controversial comments on the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
"Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country," Disney said in a statement. "It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive."
During the Sept. 15 broadcast of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the comedian's opening monologue shifted to Kirk, who was fatally shot Sept. 10 while speaking at a university in the state of Utah. The suspect, Tyler Robinson, was charged with aggravated murder.
"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA (Make America Great Again) 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 on the show. "In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving."
The remarks drew a firestorm of criticism from a horde of Republicans, including President Donald Trump, which led Disney to remove Kimmel's show from the air temporarily.
After nearly a week of discussion, Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! Will return Sept. 23.
"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,” it said.
Before the episode that referenced Kirk and Robinson, Kimmel offered his condolences on social media to Kirk's family.
"Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?" he wrote. "On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence."
After the episode aired, Nexstar Media, which is the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S., with more than 200 television stations in 116 markets, pulled Kimmel's show from its broadcasts "for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show."
Nexstar recently announced plans to acquire rival broadcast company Tegna for $6.2 billion, putting Nexstar in 80% of America's television-owning households. The acquisition will require final approval from the Trump-controlled Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
After Nexstar's decision to remove Kimmel from its television stations, Disney and ABC released a statement, indicating that Kimmel's "comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located."
FCC Chair Brendan Carr praised Nexstar for pressuring ABC to remove Kimmel from the air.
"Local broadcasters have an obligation to serve the public interest," Carr posted on the U.S. social media platform. X. "While this may be an unprecedented decision, broadcasters need to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values."
Kimmel and Trump have engaged in a war of words for quite some time due to their political disagreements. The president took a jab at the comedian after his show was suspended, saying it was "great news for America."
Kimmel's show has been on the air since 2003.
