The So Called Return of Jimmy Kimmel
If you’ve been following the hubbub around Jimmy Kimmel, you recognize that this story isn’t over. I didn’t expect it to be. Disney did what Disney does and put him back on the air. No surprises there. Here’s their press statement from September 22, 2025.
STATEMENT ON JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE! FROM THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
The Walt Disney Company issued the following statement today regarding Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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. 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.
With all of the asinine decisions Disney has made in recent years there’s really nothing surprising about this one. I image quite a bit of cost benefit analysis is happening behind the scenes.
Factors that are being weighed include the major component that they will likely have to pay out the remainder of Kimmel’s contract whether the show is in production or not. This may also be true of some key employees.
Theoretically it’s better to have Kimmel bringing in minimal amounts of money by keeping the show going rather than his failing ratings hitting true zero, at least to Disney’s way of thinking.
Bear in mind that many on the Left are cancelling their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions. Nothing trail blazing to see here. Just as many on the Right did the same when Gina Carano was fired from The Mandalorian in 2021. It was unclear then just as it is now how much of an impact this had on the decision making by Disney.
What you may not be hearing is that Sinclair and Nexstar will not be broadcasting Kimmel’s show on any of their stations. This is significant. These are the two largest television broadcast groups in the nation.
