“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.”
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.”
“Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” it added.
Nexstar hasn’t announced yet what it will do.
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.
