The crew behind “Jimmy Kimmel Live” will be paid next week as conversations continue between the host and Disney executives to find a path for the late night show’s return, TheWrap has learned.
Staffers were notified Friday by the ABC late night show that they would be compensated next week, despite not having a date set for when “Jimmy Kimmel Live” will be back on the air.
Kimmel, Disney executives and the host’s business and legal representatives continued their extensive talks to get the show back on air on Friday, conversations that devoured most of Thursday in the wake of the outrage from ABC, Nexstar and Sinclair’s decision to pause airings of Kimmel on Wednesday due to his comments regarding Charlie Kirk’s murderer.
As TheWrap previously reported, Kimmel had a plan to address the backlash on Wednesday’s show, though the plug was pulled when the veteran host and Disney couldn’t agree on a way to address the outrage in a way that wouldn’t further ruffle feathers on the right. Now, Disney’s conundrum is whether to deescalate the situation — some Disney employees even received death threats this week — or to talk a stand for free speech.
Kimmel hasn’t commented publicly on the situation, and hasn’t been on air since ABC suspended “Jimmy Kimmel Live” on Wednesday, “indefinitely” pulling the program from its typical 11:35 p.m. slot.
ABC’s announcement came after Nexstar Media Group, which has more than 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million people, first said it would preempt “Kimmel” broadcasts. Sinclair Broadcasting, which owns, operates or provides services to 178 television stations in 81 markets, followed suit, and said Kimmel’s suspension is “not enough,” demanding that he issue an apology to the Kirk family and make a “meaningful personal donation” to them and Turning Point USA before he returned to their ABC stations.
The comment ABC, Nexstar and Sinclair are specifically taking issue with was said on Kimmel’s Monday broadcast, and referenced the political affiliation of Kirk’s killer.
“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 on Monday.
