After days of heated discussion, Jimmy Kimmel Live! is set to return to the airwaves on Tuesday, Sep. 23. The move, which ABC announced on Monday, Sept. 22, comes after the late-night talk show host was suspended several days following making comments about the late Charlie Kirk.
But, it’s not as easy as just saying Jimmy Kimmel Live! is back on the air. Just because ABC is bringing him back, it’s much deeper than that, and the show could still be unavailable in many areas.
“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,” ABC’s parent The Walt Disney Company said in a statement. “It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. 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.”
Jimmy Kimmel’s Show Might Not Be Viewable in Some Areas
But, The Hollywood Reporter reports that “despite Kimmel’s return, it is not immediately clear if his show will be available across the entire country.”
“Sinclair, for its part, had said that it would not go back to running Kimmel’s show on its stations until the late night host apologized for his comments, met with Sinclair representatives, and made a donation to Turning Point, the organization that Kirk founded,” The Hollywood Reporter notes. “Sinclair, it should be noted, owns the ABC station in the Washington D.C. metro area, among other markets.”
The publication adds that Nexstar may “could also choose to continue to preempt the show, though of course it would still be accessible online across the country after it runs on ABC.”
So, even though ABC is bringing Kimmel’s show back, it doesn’t mean you’ll be able to see if on your local channel. If you’re interested i watching the show, check your local network and listings.
Before the ABC announcement broke, the American Civil Liberties Union released an open letter on Monday signed by roughly 400 actors, writers, musicians and filmmakers criticizing Kimmel’s suspension. Commissioner Anna M. Gomez also released a long statement on the matter, stating, in part, “We cannot allow an inexcusable act of political violence to be twisted into a justification for government censorship and control.”
So, even with Kimmel’s show coming back, chances are this incident will be in the news for a long time. It’s a heated topic and one that gets people talking.
