After a Forced Short Break Jimmy Kimmel Is Back — Why Did Disney Reinstate Him?

It's been a tough time for the First Amendment, which keeps getting stress-tested during President Donald Trump's second term. In the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, the responses online from random weirdos and politicians were quite surprising. The most shocking posts came in the form of celebrating the controversial conservative activist's murder, which politicians on both sides of the aisle condemned.

Naturally, there were a lot of takes to be had from professionals in the late-night realm. From Jon Stewart to John Oliver, right on down to Greg Gutfeld, everyone had something to say. The less politically-charged shows like The Tonight Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! stuck to making jokes during their monologues. When Kimmel quipped about the MAGA response to Kirk's death, Disney suspended his show indefinitely. That lasted less than a week. Why was he reinstated? Here's what we know.

In a statement to NPR, a spokesperson for 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," adding that "some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive." Speaking of timing, the suspension was announced following the appearance of FCC Chair Brendan Carr on Turning Point USA employee Benny Johnson's podcast.

Johnson, who is the chief creative officer at the conservative outreach organization founded by Kirk, spoke with Carr at length. The FCC Chair suggested there were "remedies we can look at." He then added, "These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead." This is when allegations of violating the First Amendment were floated online.

The cancellation of Kimmel and Carr's comments resulted in a social media movement demanding people boycott Disney by canceling their Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ accounts. It's unclear if this had anything to do with Disney reinstating Kimmel, as it did not address the possible hit to its bank account. Instead, Disney said after having "thoughtful conversations with Jimmy," it decided to bring his show back.

Various unconfirmed reports claim Disney lost nearly $4 billion during the Disney boycott. We may never know the actual number. According to the New York Post, the decision to pull Kimmel was a tough one for Disney's CEO, Bob Iger. It's also unclear if Kimmel's reinstatement includes an apology from the late-night host on his first night back, Sept. 23.

Sinclair Broadcast Group said it will not put Kimmel's show back into rotation on its ABC stations. In a post to X, Sinclair said, "Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return." Nexstar Media Group is also continuing its boycott of Jimmy Kimmel Live! In a statement, the broadcast company said it stands by its decision and will instead air local news and other programming relevant to its respective markets.