‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’ returns Tuesday night

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel will return to his ABC show Sept. 23, 2025, though at least two major TV station owners will not carry it.

The network halted production on the show Sept. 17, 2025, after comments Kimmel made on the Sept. 15, 2025, edition of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” about the death of conservative host Charlie Kirk drew ire.

“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 Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, said in the announcement announcing the return.

“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,” the statement continues.

Disney did not specifically address concerns over what many saw as an attempt to silence Kimmel in the wake of pressure from the Trump administration threatening it could start penalizing ABC affiliates’ broadcast licenses.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which announced it would preempt the show prior to ABC suspending it following the Kirk comments, will air local news instead, however.

Nexstar Media Group has also announced plans to continue to preempt the program.

It’s not clear how long that arrangement might last.

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The show typically tapes at around 4:30 p.m. Pacific time and airs follow the late local news on most ABC affiliates across the country. 

Most weeks it does not air a new episode Fridays. In total the show will have missed production on three new episodes.