TV news: Jimmy Kimmel's show returns to ABC
The U.S. media battleground swings to and fro.
Following a whirlwind week, Jimmy Kimmel’s popular late-night show has been reinstated and will resume as normal on ABC.
Film News Blitz writer Rhys Rogers takes us through the timeline of events that led to this point.
Monday 15 September
During a segment on the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ show, the host stated that Trump’s supporters were trying to ‘characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than them’.
Kimmel also claimed that the ‘MAGA clan’ were trying to score political points from the assassination against the left.
Notably, he poked fun at Trump’s response when asked how he was holding up, describing it as ‘how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish’ due to his apparent lack of grief and sadness.
Wednesday 17 September
Following the broadcast, Kimmel received immediate backlash from Trump and his supporters, with many calling for the show’s removal.
The chair of the Federal Communications Commission and proud Trump supporter, Brendan Carr, threatened to take action against Disney and ABC, and multiple network suppliers like Sinclair and NexStar threatened to remove Kimmel’s shows from their platforms indefinitely.
Eventually, a spokesperson for ABC said the show would be ‘pre-empted indefinitely’ for the comments made, and it was unclear whether the show would return.
Over the weekend
Naturally, the announcement was met with mixed responses - while some believed justice had been served, Kimmel’s suspension was mostly met with outrage and disbelief.
During a visit to the UK, Trump claimed that the show had been cancelled due to bad ratings, and he has also criticised hosts like Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers, insinuating that they could be next.
However, millions of people have criticised the move as clear censorship and an attack on free speech, including some of the biggest stars of the industry.
Celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Meryl Streep, and Robert De Niro are among over 400 celebrities who signed a letter backing Kimmel and calling for his return.
Monday 22 September
This brings us to the most recent update - on Monday, Disney released a statement concerning the Kimmel show.
They said that the decision to remove him was made to avoid inflaming an ‘emotional moment for our country’, but conversations with Kimmel this weekend have led to their decision to reinstate his show.
While this is welcome news to most, it is unknown whether Sinclair and Nexstar will broadcast the show once it returns, or whether Trump’s fight against late-night talk shows will end here.
I’m certain that everyone will tune into Jimmy Kimmel’s return show to see how he addresses the situation - only time will tell.
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