Jimmy Kimmel is officially coming back to screens after Disney pulled his late-night show over remarks he made about Charlie Kirk’s death.
The 57-year-old comedian sparked huge controversy during his monologue on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last week, when he addressed the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Kimmel told viewers: “We hit 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.
“And 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.”
The host then turned his attention to Donald Trump, blasting him for focusing on the White House’s new $200 million state ballroom.
“Demolition, construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?” he quipped.
Show Pulled ‘Indefinitely’
After the episode aired, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! was being taken off air “indefinitely” — a move that sent social media into meltdown.
Fans accused Disney and ABC of censorship, while others said Kimmel’s jokes were badly timed given the national grief.
The backlash was huge, and even sparked debate among Hollywood elites.
Disney Responds
Now, The Walt Disney Company — which owns ABC — has confirmed the late-night show will return this Tuesday.
In a statement, Disney said:
“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. 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.”
Stars Rally Behind Kimmel
Kimmel also had no shortage of celebrity support during his suspension.
Hundreds of A-listers — including Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks, and Meryl Streep — signed an open letter defending free speech.
The letter read: “Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country. We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”
Kimmel has yet to issue a fresh response, but it looks like Tuesday’s episode is set to draw some serious attention.
Featured image credit: Jimmy Kimmel Live
