Nexstar Media Group announced on Tuesday that it will continue its suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” upon the program’s return to late-night television.
The company initially announced its intention to suspend Kimmel’s program after he made “ill-timed and insensitive” remarks about the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk during his Sept. 15 monologue. After Disney approved Kimmel’s return from his indefinite suspension, Nexstar stated the company stands by its decision to assure “respectful” and “constructive dialogue.”
“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,” Nexstar said. “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.”
Sinclair, another broadcaster that owns ABC’s affiliate networks, is also preempting its suspension of Kimmel’s program, according to a statement released on Monday.
Nexstar and Sinclair’s preemptions mean that Kimmel’s show will only air on ABC’s regular channel and not its affiliate networks.
ABC’s parent company, the Walt Disney Company, suspended Kimmel’s program indefinitely on Wednesday after the host falsely claimed that Kirk’s assassin was part of the “MAGA gang” and compared President Donald Trump’s reaction to the assassination to a four-year-old mourning a goldfish.
“We had some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA 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 during his Sept. 15 monologue. “In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving. On Friday, the White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism. But on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this” … “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of somebody he [Trump] called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, okay.”
Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairwoman Dana Walden reportedly grew concerned that Kimmel would “fan the flames with the MAGA fan base” after he planned to double down on his remarks on Wednesday. Kimmel reportedly planned to accuse conservatives of intentionally misinterpreting his words and did not plan on issuing an apology.
Executives at Disney confirmed on Monday that Kimmel’s program would return the following evening after they engaged in “thoughtful conversations” with Kimmel.
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