Kimmel Suspension Lifted (UPDATED)

 

Disney climbs off the ledge, for now:

Disney announced Monday that it’s bringing “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” back on the air Tuesday, less than a week after the company said it was suspending ABC’s late night program “indefinitely” following the host’s remarks about Charlie Kirk’s killing.

The decision followed “thoughtful conversations” with the host, whose show was taken down after Kimmel criticized conservatives’ response to Kirk’s shooting death, Disney said, adding that the company believed the timing of the remarks to be “insensitive.”

Disney couldn't help but issue a self- serving, pusillanimous statement on the suspension:

“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 company statement read. “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.”

Here's a taste of reality:

Critics slammed Disney and its CEO Bob Iger for suspending the show after Brendan Carr, President Donald Trump’s chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, threatened to punish the company with regulatory action over Kimmel’s comments. 

Earlier Monday, more than 400 celebrities, including Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, signed a letter calling the suspension a “dark moment for freedom of speech.” A handful of other celebrities have called on people to cancel their subscriptions to Disney’s platforms or vowed not to work with the company again.

Meanwhile the MAGAts running many of the affiliates are keeping their powder dry for now:

Nexstar and Sinclair, which own multiple ABC affiliates and control what broadcasts on them, did not immediately respond when asked if they would now air Kimmel’s show. The companies both announced they would preempt the program following his remarks about Kirk, with Sinclair demanding that Kimmel “issue a direct apology to the Kirk family.”

This is a reminder of the "insensitive" comments Kimmel made:

"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."

Sounds like what he said about the MAGAts scoring political points has been proven in the days since (see Kirk "Memorial/ rally").

There have been far too many instances of cowardice on the part of too many in the media, universities, foreign governments, and others since the Malignant Fascist took office and began his policy of bullying and shakedowns in order to consolidate power.  Let's hope this one small victory for true free speech leads to others.

UPDATE:  The MAGAts at Sinclair are continuing to preempt Kimmel on their stations when he returns on Tuesday. No word from Nexstar at this time.