On Monday, Disney confirmed that it will resume airing Jimmy Kimmel Live! from September 23, 2025. However, not all ABC affiliates are on the same page on the show’s reappearance. Some broadcasters have chosen to keep the show off the air.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! will still be preempted by Sinclair Broadcast Group
Recently, Sinclair Broadcast Group, which controls 39 ABC-affiliated stations, including in key regions like Washington, D.C., announced that it will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! The broadcaster announced the decision on its official X (formerly Twitter) account.
Sinclair stated in the post, “Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”
The announcement came a few hours after Disney, ABC’s parent company, issued its own statement about resuming the late-night talk show.
“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’s statement to USA TODAY read. “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.”
The controversy that led to the suspension began with Kimmel’s comments on the September 15, 2025, episode. In the episode, Kimmel made controversial remarks about the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. During his monologue, Kimmel indicated that the shooter was a part of the “MAGA gang.” The comments were widely criticized, including by the U.S. President, Donald Trump.
In response to the political backlash, Disney pulled the show off the air on September 17, 2025. However, after multiple discussions with Kimmel, Disney has decided to reverse its decision, announcing that the show would return on September 23, 2025.
Originally reported by Harsha Panduranga on ComingSoon.
