Sept. 23 (UPI) — Sinclair has announced its 38 ABC affiliates will not air Jimmy Kimmel Live! when it returns Tuesday.
The late-night talk show’s host was suspended last week for remarks he made concerning Tyler Robinson, the alleged killer of conservative activist and popular podcaster Charlie Kirk.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming,” Sinclair said in a statement Monday. “Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”
Sinclair made its decision shortly after ABC said it was putting Kimmel’s show back on the air.
“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,” the Disney-owned company said in a statement.
“It 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.”
Kimmel was benched after he 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 with everything they can to score political points from it.”
No guests have been announced yet for Tuesday’s return of the show.