.Jimmy Kimmel Live! tapes live from the Hollywood Masonic Temple on Hollywood Blvd. near Grauman's Chinese Theater with a studio audience of people in town to see Hollywood and locals.
On Feb. 21, 2024, Kimmel hinted that he may not renew his contract for further seasons after his current contract expires in May 2026 in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, stating that "I think this is my final contract. I hate to even say it because everyone's laughing at me now — each time I think that, and then it turns out to be not the case. I still have a little more than two years left on my contract, and that seems pretty good, that seems like enough" [23][24].
2025 suspension
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| Trump's minor stroke and face drooping |
On Sept. 17, 2025, during an interview on right wing Benny Johnson's podcast, Trump's FCC chair Brendan Carr warned that action could be taken against ABC for humorous remarks by Kimmel during the monologue of the previous night's episode, in which he stated that the "MAGA gang" was "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" [25].
FCC Chair Carr called Kimmel's comments "truly sick” and said his agency "has a strong case for holding Kimmel, ABC, and network parent Walt Disney Co. accountable for spreading misinformation," arguing that Kimmel "appeared to be making an intentional effort to mislead the public that Kirk’s assassin was a right-wing Trump supporter" [26] [which would make it disinformation if that were the case].
MAGA, Kirk comments as pretext
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| Hail Fearless Leader Commander-in-Chief Trunf! All hail! Round up those who didn't hail. |
.Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group both announced after the warning that they would pre-empt the show [show something else in its place] from their ABC affiliate stations indefinitely allegedly in response to Kimmel's [unforgiveable and "truly sick"] comments [27][28][29] [which most people did not think were that bad or too far from the mark].
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| Trump cares so much about Kirk that he sent AI |
Shortly afterward, ABC announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be suspended indefinitely [25][30]. Nexstar stated that its original decision was made unilaterally and was not influenced by any correspondence with the FCC or other agencies.
However, it was pointed out that Nexstar has been seeking FCC approval for the acquisition of fellow television broadcaster Tegna, Inc. [31][32].
Deadline reported that Kimmel had refused to apologize but had planned to clarify his comments and specifically call out Trump supporters on that night's episode, and that ABC "hope[d] that it will be able to have Kimmel back on the air 'soon,' per sources, but whether Kimmel himself is willing is also unclear" [33].
Variety described the suspension as coming after "several prominent conservatives have called for any critic of [Kirk's] work to be silenced, no matter how nuanced the argument may be" [34][35].
CNN reported that Disney employees and Kimmel's staff received death threats following Carr's remarks and were doxxed [personally exposed] on social media and that the safety of employees and advertisers was a consideration.
However, Disney said they were reportedly "hopeful" that Kimmel's show will return [36] soon. It returns tonight, Sept. 23, 2025, shortly after massive financial fallout for Disney Corporation, with many Americans cancelling their subscriptions to Disney+ and the corporation's stock tumbling in value to the tune of a $4,000,000,000 loss.
With billions at stake and massive fallout from Hollywood luminaries and ordinary citizens and subscribers to deal with, Disney (which owns ABC) made nice and brought Kimmel right back less than a week after his initial suspension. What will Kimmel do to retaliate?
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| He didn't pay for our forgiveness, Charlie. |
Will he make more jokes or follow the normal course of repeating jokes from the pool all the late-night hosts (Colbert, Meyers, Fallon, etc.) seem to use nowadays but with his own spin.
The past week, the joke everyone has been doing is exaggerated deference to the Orange Fuhrer, Dictator Trump, and the FCC Gestapo. One can only hope for a little apology, rising above the fray, and then digging into Trump on a nightly basis as usual.
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