Sinclair reverses course, brings ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ back to affiliates

Sinclair Broadcast Group announced Friday it will resume airing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on its 38 ABC affiliates Friday evening, reversing a preemption imposed in protest of remarks the late-night host made about the man accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

In explaining the reversal Friday, Sinclair said its decision was based on balancing community interests with its duty to air network programming.

“Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience. We take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming,” Sinclair said.

“Over the last week, we have received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives. We have also witnessed troubling acts of violence, including the despicable incident of a shooting at an ABC affiliate station in Sacramento. These events underscore why responsible broadcasting matters and why respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important.”

The company stated it suggested steps to ABC to boost accountability, viewer feedback and community dialogue, including the creation of a network- wide independent ombudsman. While ABC and Disney have not adopted the proposals, Sinclair said it respects their right to decide under network affiliate agreements but believes such measures would build trust. Sinclair emphasized its decision to preempt the show was made independently, without government influence.

“While we understand that not everyone will agree with our decisions about programming, it is simply inconsistent to champion free speech while demanding that broadcasters air specific content,” the statement continued.

Sinclair said it remains committed to providing programming through its local stations that reflects community priorities, builds trust and encourages constructive dialogue, and added it looks forward to working with ABC to deliver content that serves a wide range of viewers.

Nexstar Media Group last week also said its television stations would not air the show in response to Kimmel’s remarks. The company has not stated whether it will restore the show.

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views or values of the local communities in which we are located,” Andrew Alford, president of Nexstar’s broadcasting division, said in a statement earlier this week.

“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”

Nexstar said it has been having “productive” talks with ABC and Disney.

Disney executives suspended Kimmel’s show last Wednesday after remarks he made about the killing of Kirk. He returned to his ABC late night show Tuesday after a weeklong suspension.

“It was never my intention to make light of a murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it,” Kimmel said, his voice cracking, during his opening monologue Tuesday.

But the comedian’s remarks focused largely on the issue of free speech — thanking people who supported his right to express his opinion, including Republicans such as U.S. senators Ted Cruz and Rand Paul.

“This show is not important,” Kimmel said. “What’s important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”

On his show Sept. 15, Kimmel said, “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 doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Disney’s statement suspending Kimmel for those remarks read, “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.”

But the company relented this week, announcing Monday that Kimmel would be returning to his late-night show.

“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,” Disney officials said in a statement.

Kirk, 31, was fatally shot while speaking to students at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. The accused gunman, Tyler Robinson, 22, was charged with murder, and prosecutors said they would seek the death penalty if he is convicted.