financetom
Business
financetom
/
Business
/
Disney says Kimmel will return to the air Tuesday, six days after suspension
News World Market Environment Technology Personal Finance Politics Retail Business Economy Cryptocurrency Forex Stocks Market Commodities
Disney says Kimmel will return to the air Tuesday, six days after suspension
Sep 23, 2025 2:24 AM

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) -Disney ( DIS ) said "Jimmy Kimmel Live" will return to its ABC network lineup on Tuesday, six days after it suspended the talk-show host following threats by the Federal Communications Commission chairman over comments the host had made about Charlie Kirk's alleged killer.

This marked the highest-profile move from the private sector to challenge a string of efforts by U.S. President Donald Trump to crack down on his perceived media critics through litigation and threats of regulatory action.

In announcing the decision, ABC's parent company said it had suspended production of the late-night comedy show "to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country." Disney said the company felt some of Kimmel's comments in question "were ill-timed and thus insensitive."

After further discussions with Kimmel, "we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday," Disney ( DIS ) said.

Disney ( DIS ) CEO Bob Iger, Disney Entertainment Co-Chair Dana Walden and Kimmel were in talks over the weekend and reached a decision on Monday to return Kimmel to the air, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The decision was guided by what was in the entertainment company's best interest, rather than external pressure from station owners or the FCC, the sources said.

Kimmel is expected to address the issue when his show returns on Tuesday, according to the sources.

A spokeswoman for Kimmel could not immediately be reached for comment.

Trump, who has repeatedly pressured broadcasters to stop airing content that he has found objectionable, had celebrated the news of Kimmel's suspension and referred to it erroneously as an outright cancellation of the show.

Kimmel, who has frequently targeted Trump in his show, drew fire for remarks he made last Monday about the September 10 assassination of Kirk, who was gunned down while addressing a crowd of 3,000 people on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.

Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative political activist and podcast host, had been credited for building support for Trump and the Republican Party among young voters in 2024.

A 22-year-old technical school student from Utah has been charged with his murder, and the precise motive for the killing remains unclear.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has used his office and the courts to attack unflattering speech about him that he has called defamatory or false.

Throughout both his terms, Trump has threatened to rescind licenses for local broadcast affiliates of the national networks. The licenses are approved by the Federal Communications Commission, a nominally independent regulatory body.

Disney's ( DIS ) move signals the first big push back against the Trump administration by big media.

Disney ( DIS ) shares closed down 1%.

ABC suspended Kimmel's show on Wednesday after Carr threatened investigations and regulatory action against licensed broadcasters who aired Kimmel. The owners of dozens of local TV stations affiliated with ABC said they would no longer carry the show, including Nexstar, which needs FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger with Tegna ( TGNA ).

On Friday, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, a Republican, said Carr's threat was dangerous.

Comments
Welcome to financetom comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Related Articles >
Google agrees $36 million fine for anti-competitive deals with Australia telcos
Google agrees $36 million fine for anti-competitive deals with Australia telcos
Aug 17, 2025
SYDNEY, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Google agreed on Monday to pay a A$55 million ($35.8 million) fine in Australia after the consumer watchdog found it had hurt competition by paying the country's two largest telcos to pre-install its search application on Android phones, excluding rival search engines. The fine extends a bumpy period for the Alphabet-owned internet giant in Australia,...
American Tungsten Identifies Multiple Exploration Targets at Ima Mine
American Tungsten Identifies Multiple Exploration Targets at Ima Mine
Jun 10, 2025
09:46 AM EDT, 06/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- American Tungsten ( DEMRF ) on Tuesday said ongoing compilation of historical mining and drillhole information has identified multiple exploration targets on the Ima property in Idaho. The company is planning a drill program to delineate the northeastern extension of the No 5. and No. 7 veins and also assess continuity of vein...
Exclusive-OpenAI taps Google in unprecedented cloud deal despite AI rivalry, sources say
Exclusive-OpenAI taps Google in unprecedented cloud deal despite AI rivalry, sources say
Jun 10, 2025
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -OpenAI plans to add Alphabet's Google cloud service to meet its growing needs for computing capacity, three sources told Reuters, marking a surprising collaboration between two prominent competitors in the artificial intelligence sector. The deal, which has been under discussion for a few months, was finalized in May, one of the sources added. It underscores how massive...
Texas Roadhouse CFO Chris Monroe Departs, Keith Humpich Named Interim CFO
Texas Roadhouse CFO Chris Monroe Departs, Keith Humpich Named Interim CFO
Jun 10, 2025
09:47 AM EDT, 06/10/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Texas Roadhouse ( TXRH ) said Tuesday that its chief financial officer, Chris Monroe, has departed from the company. The restaurant company said it has named vice president of finance Keith Humpich as interim CFO. The company said it has started a search for a permanent CFO. Shares of the company were down...
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.financetom.com All Rights Reserved