Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback to late night has been dealt a massive blow with ABC affiliates refusing to air it in nearly 40 major markets after Disney announced the liberal talk host will return Tuesday.
Sinclair Inc., whose local stations pay to run ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is standing by its policy from last week that it would keep the show off the air indefinitely, though the two sides were in talks.
‘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 company said.
The biggest affiliate Sinclair owns is WJLA in Washington, meaning Donald Trump and the nation’s other major power players who have watched on with interest in this saga won’t be able to watch.
Sinclair had previously said it will refuse to lift the suspension of Kimmel’s show on its stations ‘until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.’
The broadcaster also called on Kimmel to issue a ‘direct apology to the Kirk family’ and to make a ‘meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.’ TPUSA is a conservative college campus group founded by Kirk, with Kimmel a well-known liberal.
‘Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,’ Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith said in the announcement.
‘We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities.’
Jimmy Kimmel’s comeback to late night was dealt a massive blow as the show won’t be aired in nearly 40 major markets after Disney announced the liberal talk host will return Tuesday
Sinclair Inc., whose local stations pay to run ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live!, is standing by its policy from last week that it would keep the show off the air indefinitely , though the two sides were in talks
Jimmy Kimmel Live! will be back on the air on Tuesday night, less than a week after his suspension for controversial comments about the killing of Charlie Kirk.
In a statement, ABC parent company Disney said it would ‘return the show on Tuesday’.
Kimmel had been suspended since Wednesday, after the host said that ‘the MAGA gang’ was attempting to portray the suspect in Kirk’s assassination ‘as anything other than one of them‘.
‘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 said.
‘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.’
No further details were provided.
Kimmel’s controversial comments occurred on his show last Monday.
The move will be a further headache to Disney CEO Bob Iger (pictured) after he dealt with liberal backlash to the move over the weekend
The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, said they’ll ‘return the show on Tuesday’
Kirk, who was 31 when he was killed, is survived by his wife Erika, with whom he had a three-year-old daughter and a son, 16 months, seen here
‘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 with everything they can to score political points from it,’ he said.
‘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.’
Kimmel then played a clip of Trump responding to a question about how he was coping with Kirk’s death, before poking fun at the president’s mourning process.
He was reprimanded just two days later for his comments by FCC boss Brendan Carr.
Carr told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson he was considering an investigation into Kimmel and ABC over his remarks on Wednesday.
Within hours, more than a dozen ABC affiliates told the network and Disney it would not be airing Kimmel’s show until the remarks were addressed.
Disney and senior ABC execs then made the call to pull Kimmel’s show ‘indefinitely’.
The two parties had been engaged in talks since, in hopes of finding a way to get the show back on the air.
It remains unclear whether Kimmel – seen here with wife Molly McNearney at the Emmys earlier this month – will address or apologize for his comments when he returns to air
FCC chairman Brendan Carr on Wednesday told podcaster Benny Johnson that an apology is ‘a very reasonable, minimal step that can be taken’. No such plans were detailed in Disney’s statement
Carr, during his conversation with Johnson, framed an apology ‘as a very reasonable, minimal step that can be taken’.
No such plans were detailed in Disney’s statement Monday. It remains unclear whether Kimmel will address his comments directly.
Disney co-chairman Dana Walden and chief executive Bob Iger made the call to suspend the host over his on-air comments.
Suspect Tyler Robinson, meanwhile, has been charged with capital murder.
Prosecutors released a slew of text messages and other evidence that appeared to hint at a motive last week
In a text to his transgender partner shortly after the murder, Robinson allegedly said of Kirk: ‘I had enough of his hatred. Some hate can’t be negotiated out.’
In another, he discussed how his father ‘has been pretty die-hard MAGA’ since Trump had been re-elected.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox has said the suspect’s ideology ‘was very different than his family’, and that his motivation was rooted in radicalization.
Kimmel is seen driving in Los Angeles on Friday
Disney boss Bob Iger made the call to pull Kimmel’s show over his comments
A New York Times report last week detailed White House plans to crack down on a nondescript left-wing network that Trump has suggested radicalized the suspect in the Kirk case.
Trump has also promised to bring racketeering cases against people funding protests linked to such groups.
The Daily Mail has contacted ABC for comment.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .