Not everyone was happy to see Jimmy Kimmel back on the air Tuesday night.
President Donald Trump made his anger known on his Truth Social ahead of Jimmy Kimmel Live’s return to late-night TV on Tuesday.
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!” Trump fumed. “Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE.”
Trump also tossed in what appeared to be a threat.
“He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution,” Trump continued. “I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Kimmel was taken off the air indefinitely on Wednesday, Sept. 17, following comments he made the prior Monday about the “MAGA gang” response to the man who assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Sept. 10.
Kimmel said in his Sept. 15 monologue, “We had 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.”
The following day, FCC Chair Brendan Carr publicly encouraged broadcasters to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live, which station owners Sinclair and Nexstar did later in the day. On Wednesday, ABC suspended Kimmel’s long-running late-night show, sparking a huge outcry
Disney/Randy Holmes
Disney had faced backlash for its move, including protests, calls for a boycott, and a lot of public support for Kimmel, including from current and former late-night hosts, as well as hundreds of entertainment industry figures, including Tom Hanks, Regina Hall, Jennifer Aniston, Pedro Pascal, and Meryl Streep.
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ABC then announced that Kimmel would return on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Sinclair Broadcasting Group, the country’s largest owner of ABC affiliate stations, announced Monday that it still would not air Jimmy Kimmel Live. The company said it would be “replacing it with news programming” and added that discussions with ABC were ongoing. Sinclair had previously demanded that Kimmel apologize for what he said and make a donation to Kirk’s family and his conservative Turning Point USA organization.
Media group Nexstar, which operates the largest group of local TV stations in the U.S., said it would also replace Kimmel with local programming. The company said it would “monitor the show as it returns to ABC.” Nextstar announced a $6.2 billion deal in August to acquire another broadcast station owner, Tegna, a deal that would require government approval.
