Disney executives had been in disaster mode on Thursday, hunkered down with their star expertise Jimmy Kimmel to strive to determine a path to deescalate the firestorm ignited by his remarks on Monday about Charlie Kirk’s assassin — and the extreme response to Kimmel’s elimination on Wednesday.
A rare set of pressures had been being delivered to bear as Kimmel’s allies — comedians, politicians and media personalities — known as the general public to motion in opposition to what Marc Maron categorized as “authorities censorship” whereas conservatives escalated their assaults, and the federal government added gas to the fireplace by making an attempt to attract “The View” into the FCC’s purview. In the meantime, Disney was silent because the tomb.
Behind closed doorways, the corporate spent Thursday centered on discovering a option to get Kimmel again on the air with a level of urgency, a Disney insider informed TheWrap. The insider added that whereas Kimmel was getting ready to deal with the backlash to his Monday feedback on Wednesday’s present, Disney felt what he needed to say “would have continued to enrage” the suitable. The 2 sides couldn’t come to an settlement on tips on how to handle the uproar in a method that introduced the temperature down, and TheWrap was informed that the state of affairs turned “unsafe” as Disney workers had been fielding dying threats.
With the clock ticking, the plug was pulled.
Bringing the temperature down is now the first focus, and Disney is in discussions with Kimmel on discovering a significant option to handle what’s taking place, this insider mentioned. These discussions are prone to contain Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Leisure co-chairwoman Dana Walden, each of whom have a detailed relationship with Kimmel — the late evening host spent half an hour huddled with Walden at Disney’s Emmys get together on Sunday.
Whether or not Kimmel’s potential return consists of an apology, as broadcaster Sinclair has demanded, is unclear. Kimmel’s bit from Monday made gentle of the conservative response to Kirk’s shooter’s politics, not Kirk or his dying, however has now been twisted and misconstrued by conservative media to the purpose that the notion is now that he made insensitive remarks concerning the slain activist.
Sinclair has argued that Kimmel’s suspension is “not sufficient” and demanded that he concern an apology to the Kirk household and make a “significant private donation” to them and Turning Level USA earlier than they put him again on their ABC stations, which account for about 7.7% of U.S. households.
Trump, in the meantime, was emboldened by Disney’s determination on Thursday and went as far as to say networks shouldn’t be allowed to air applications that talk overwhelmingly negatively about him.
“When you’ve got a community and you’ve got night exhibits and all they do is hit Trump ‒ that’s all they do,” he informed reporters on Air Drive One. “They’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do this.”
As Disney and Kimmel work to discover a path to get him again on the air, the query turns into when or if it would occur. Iger is then confronted with the selection of both standing as much as these associates and backing his late evening host’s return – probably with out acquiescing to their situations – or paying out Kimmel’s contract and scrapping “Jimmy Kimmel Reside!” altogether, which might additional inflame public and inventive tensions with some of the highly effective leisure firms on the planet.
Former ABC Daytime govt Brian Frons informed TheWrap that the state of affairs poses a singular problem for Disney.
“This isn’t only a easy present concern,” he mentioned. “That is the destiny of the community, the character of stories moderation, the character of the network-affiliate relationships. And, in fact, the undertone of all of it, the connection with the Trump administration and the FCC.”
Whereas acknowledging that there’s at all times a path to barter, Frons mentioned the percentages of Kimmel returning to ABC’s airwaves finally come down to 2 questions: What’s Kimmel keen to do and the way a lot is Disney keen to swallow, particularly given his present contract is about to run out in 2026.
“Even in case you went to Sinclair and Nexstar and mentioned, ‘Hey, Jimmy apologized, Jimmy wrote the verify,’ now you fold in negotiation with the associates,” he added. “The following factor you’re going to do is, ‘OK, properly, what’s going to occur when he goes again? How is he going to be managed? Is that this going to occur once more? As a result of whether it is, we’re going to tug him and we’re by no means going to convey him again.’ In order that, to me, is the true obstacle.”
Representatives for the FCC didn’t return TheWrap’s request for touch upon this story. Disney declined to remark for this story. Kimmel’s rep didn’t reply to a request for remark. Sinclair didn’t return a request for remark.
Sinclair Broadcasting owns, operates or supplies companies to 178 tv stations in 81 markets, whereas Nexstar — which additionally refused to air “Jimmy Kimmel Reside!” after his feedback — owns greater than 200 owned or companion stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million individuals. Out of these totals, Nexstar owns 23 ABC affiliate stations and companions with 9 different stations, whereas Sinclair owns and operates 30 native ABC associates.
When trying solely at Nexstar and Sinclair’s full-power ABC affiliate stations that maintain an FCC license, S&P World estimates that they accounted for 12.4% and seven.7% of U.S. households, respectively. To place it merely, ABC is unlikely to place “Jimmy Kimmel Reside!” again on the air with out with the ability to broadcast by way of these stations.
Veteran comedy producer and former “Late Present With David Letterman” EP Robert Morton slammed the choice to tug Kimmel from the airwaves, telling TheWrap it’s all about Trump’s ego and “a man that may’t take a joke.” He added that Iger ought to “rise to the event” and defend Kimmel, touting the chief’s observe file of doing so with expertise and producers.
“After we launched the Letterman present, we didn’t have 100% clearance on the stations. It took us a number of years to get 100% clearance. So, if I used to be ABC, I’d name their bluff,” he mentioned. “You’re going to drop the ABC lineup? Go forward and do it, as a result of in case you drop Kimmel, we’re not going to provide the different programming. It’s a violation of our affiliate deal. I might think about you’ll be able to’t simply say ‘I’m not going to air a present’ after which anticipate the community to produce you with all the opposite programming. They’ve contracts.”
However how a lot does Disney want “Jimmy Kimmel Reside!”? Like all of late evening, the present’s scores and advert spend have been slipping during the last decade. The present averaged 1.77 million viewers within the second quarter of 2025, coming in because the second most-watched late evening present behind just lately canceled “The Late Present With Stephen Colbert,” which averaged 2.42 million views, in keeping with Nielsen information from July. That’s down from the present’s 2024 second-quarter common of 1.9 million viewers.
It additionally ranks because the No. 10 program for ABC by advert spend, accounting for $67.4 million in 2025 by way of Tuesday, per iSpot. That determine is properly beneath the $89.2 million in advert spend the present raked in for ABC in 2022, when it was ranked because the No. 11 program. Though it needs to be famous that Kimmel was as a consequence of movie per week’s value of exhibits in Brooklyn in October, a part of a profitable promoting pull for ABC, in keeping with a person with data.
There may be additionally the general public picture price of letting Kimmel go. On Thursday, “Misplaced” co-creator Damon Lindelof mentioned if Disney doesn’t reinstate Kimmel, he received’t work with the studio once more. He’s absolutely not the final to take such a stand, and a refrain of comedians backed Kimmel as properly with “WTF” podcast host Maron saying, “If in case you have any concern or perception in actual freedom or the Structure or free speech, that is it. That is the deciding second.”
Morton contended that Kimmel can be higher off not apologizing, noting the late evening panorama and the host is on “borrowed time” anyway.
“I don’t suppose it does something to assist Jimmy by apologizing,” Morton mentioned. “His value and his worth is that a lot larger and his base viewers will respect him that rather more if he doesn’t apologize. I feel it’s the top of free speech and the top of comedy when he does apologize. You by no means heard Johnny Carson apologize.”
A late evening insider who spoke on the situation of anonymity slammed Disney’s transfer as “cowardly” and Carr’s feedback as “despicable.”
“My hope is that the backlash is simply too loud for them to disregard,” the insider mentioned. “The one profit to how clear this all is, is that the outrage is prolonged method past individuals who love Kimmel. Everybody appears to know the larger implications of this.”
Sharon Waxman and Loree Seitz contributed reporting to this story.
