Sinclair announced it would not air Jimmy Kimmel’s show despite ABC reinstating the program following a brief suspension.
ABC owner Disney announced in a Monday statement that it would bring Kimmel’s show back after “thoughtful conversations” with the host following widespread criticism and threats from left-wing figures and activists. Despite this, Sinclair is not budging on the issue, saying it would refuse to air his show on its ABC affiliates.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” the Baltimore-based local TV conglomerate said in a statement.
Sinclair and Nexstar Media’s vow to refuse to air Kimmel’s show after his inflammatory comments about the assassination of Charlie Kirk prompted ABC’s original decision to suspend him. Sinclair’s perseverance will further harm Kimmel’s ratings when he returns on Tuesday night.
Kimmel’s show was pulled last Wednesday after the host’s remarks during a monologue implying, against evidence, that Charlie Kirk’s suspected assassin was a fellow conservative.
“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,” Kimmel said.
The Federal Communications Commission prohibits broadcast licensees from “broadcasting false information concerning a crime or a catastrophe” if the licensee knows the information is false, if it is foreseeable that broadcast of the information will cause substantial public harm, and if the broadcasting of the information does cause substantial public harm.
After left-wing critics rallied against Disney, it announced Kimmel’s return in a Monday statement.
“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,” Disney said.
“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,” it added.
ABC TO BRING JIMMY KIMMEL’S SHOW BACK AFTER SUSPENSION
Sinclair, which owns more than 40 ABC affiliates, faced threats over its role in Kimmel’s suspension. A source close to the situation told the New York Post that the conglomerate abruptly canceled its plans to air a Kirk tribute in place of Kimmel’s show just moments before, after it was made aware of “local threats directed at specific local ABC stations resulting from [the] ABC suspension” of Kimmel.
Sinclair reportedly feared copycat attacks of a shooting last week, when a gunman fired at least three shots into the lobby of an ABC affiliate over Kimmel’s suspension. Authorities said the alleged gunman had notes in his car critical of the Trump administration.
