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<\/p>\n Email Link<\/p>\n \n \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!<\/a>\u201d will return to ABC on Tuesday night, the network said Monday, ending a nearly weeklong standoff over the late-night talk show.\n <\/p>\n \n But not all of ABC\u2019s affiliated stations will be carrying Kimmel\u2019s comeback show. Sinclair, one of the country\u2019s biggest owners of local TV stations, said its ABC affiliates will preempt the show \u201cbeginning Tuesday night.\u201d Sinclair said it will air news programming in the time slot instead.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cDiscussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show\u2019s potential return,\u201d a Sinclair spokesperson told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n Sinclair\u2019s conservative owners condemned Kimmel last week and contributed to ABC parent Disney\u2019s decision to pull the show<\/a> from the airwaves temporarily.\n <\/p>\n \n The Kimmel controversy erupted<\/a> last week after conservatives criticized a Kimmel monologue<\/a> comment on Monday about the MAGA responses to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.\n <\/p>\n \n Kimmel said the MAGA movement was trying to score political points by trying to prove that the 22-year-old suspect accused of killing Kirk is not one of its own.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe MAGA Gang (is) 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,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cIn between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n On Wednesday, two days after the monologue aired<\/a>, President Trump\u2019s close ally atop the FCC, Brendan Carr, publicly suggested Kimmel should be suspended and invoked the FCC\u2019s oversight of local TV stations.\n <\/p>\n \n Within a matter of hours two big station groups, Sinclair and Nexstar, signaled that they would preempt Kimmel\u2019s show locally, and then ABC suspended the show altogether, a stunning move that started a national debate about government interference and freedom of speech.\n <\/p>\n \n Disney tried to explain its decision-making in a Monday afternoon statement announcing Kimmel\u2019s return.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cLast 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,\u201d the Disney statement said. \u201cIt is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive. 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.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Kimmel is planning to address the controversy in his monologue on Tuesday night, a source familiar with Kimmel\u2019s plans told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n Nexstar, the other big station owner that played a pivotal role in Kimmel\u2019s benching last week, has not commented to CNN on whether it will resume airing the show, which airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET.\n <\/p>\n \n Media analysts have watched as Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden<\/a> have navigated competing pressures. Disney needs government approval for pending deals like ESPN\u2019s pact with the NFL, while many of ABC\u2019s station partners are in the same boat. Additionally, Kimmel\u2019s contract is expiring in May and late-night TV audiences and revenue have been in decline.\n <\/p>\n \n Kimmel\u2019s sudden suspension<\/a> sent shock waves through the entertainment industry, where the comedian and long-time host is well-regarded, both inside and outside ABC.\n <\/p>\n \n His show employs between 200 and 250 people.\n <\/p>\n \n There were organized protests against Disney outside of the company\u2019s offices in New York and Burbank, California over the past week, as well as outside the theater where Kimmel\u2019s show is recorded in Hollywood.\n <\/p>\n \n Before news of Kimmel\u2019s pending return on Monday<\/a>, more than 400 artists, including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Aniston, signed an open letter, organized by the ACLU, in support of Kimmel.\n <\/p>\n \n Later, ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero said ABC \u201cmade the right call\u201d in returning Kimmel to air.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt should never have suspended him to begin with and resisted the government\u2019s desire to control what people say,\u201d Romero said in a statement.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cHopefully, other media outlets will also find their spines and resist the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to cudgel them into obeisance,\u201d he added.\n <\/p>\n \n Democratic lawmakers also celebrated news of Kimmel\u2019s return.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThank you to everyone but @BrendanCarrFCC,\u201d California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cThis is a win for free speech everywhere.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
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