Disney said Monday that Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show will return to ABC on Tuesday, after suspending it last week amid a revolt from network affiliates over the comedian’s comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
The reversal from the media and entertainment giant comes after Kimmel supporters pushed for a boycott of Disney’s content, products, and theme parks.
“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. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” the company said in a statement. “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.”
In addition to backlash from Disney customers, top conservatives criticized the FCC for suggesting it would take regulatory action against media companies for airing Kimmel’s show.
Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul said that while they disagree with what Kimmel said, the FCC chairman’s comments risked infringing on free speech.
During his show last Monday, Kimmel criticized what he called the “MAGA gang” for “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.”
Afterward but before ABC pulled the show, FCC Chair Brendan Carr called Kimmel’s comments “truly sick” and hinted at regulatory action against the network and Disney, warning “we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way.”
Nexstar Media Group, which owns 32 ABC affiliate stations and is pursuing a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna requiring FCC approval, announced it would preempt the show “for the foreseeable future.”
Sinclair Broadcasting, the nation’s largest ABC affiliate group, also removed the show and demanded Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family and make a “substantial personal donation” to them and Turning Point USA.
After Kimmel’s suspension, Carr later told CNBC that “we’re not done yet.”
But Disney drew flak for caving to the pressure. Protestors appeared outside the corporate headquarters in Burbank, Calif., while angry Disney+ and Hulu users flooded social-media accounts and customer service pages.
The internet lit up with users sharing screenshots of canceled subscriptions to Disney-owned streaming services or canceled vacations at Disney properties. Then celebrities—and even actors who previously worked for Disney—joined in.
Tatiana Maslany, who starred in the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, posted a behind-the-scenes image from the show on Instagram with text overlaid that said “cancel your @disneyplus @hulu @espn subscriptions!”
In addition, Marisa Tomei, who played Aunt May in Spider-Man movies distributed by Sony as well as Avengers movies from Disney, reposted a call to “unsubscribe and boycott” Disney platforms.
That followed other talent threatening to turn away from Disney. Writer and producer Damon Lindelof, whose show Lost ran on ABC, expressed his solidarity with Kimmel and said he hopes the suspension of his show is lifted soon.
“If it isn’t, I can’t in good conscience work for the company that imposed it,” he added.
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