ABC says Jimmy Kimmel will be back on the network, but there’s a huge caveat: a significant chunk of local ABC stations say they won’t carry him. Disney and ABC quietly announced the show’s return after a weekend of negotiations, but viewers in major markets are being told their stations will replace the program with other programming.
The network suspended Kimmel after a blistering monologue in which he attacked conservatives following the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, and the backlash was immediate and intense. ABC initially pulled the show “indefinitely,” a clear sign the company felt pressure and panic from both affiliates and the public.
Local station groups like Sinclair and Nexstar moved quickly to preempt Kimmel’s return, citing insensitivity and demanding accountability, and their refusals will black out the show in big cities across the country. That decision isn’t minor: together those groups control roughly a quarter of ABC’s reach, meaning millions of Americans will see ABC’s decision to keep broadcasting Kimmel while their hometown stations refuse to participate.
This mess didn’t happen in a vacuum. Federal pressure was also reported, with the chairman of the FCC openly calling on affiliates to “take actions” — an extraordinary intrusion into editorial decisions at a time when free speech and differing viewpoints should be respected. The entire episode smells like collusion between regulatory threats and corporate cowardice, and it should alarm every American who cares about a free press.
Disney’s reversal came only after closed-door talks and evidently some heavy corporate calculus, with one report even suggesting Kimmel was told he could “say what he wants” if the show returned. That arrangement — bring him back, no meaningful consequences, and let the outrage simmer — is an insult to viewers who demand decency and common sense from national broadcasters.
Conservatives should not be quiet or complacent while Hollywood elites mock our values and leverage tragedy for partisan points. Local station owners did the right thing by listening to their communities instead of blindly relenting to ABC’s and Disney’s PR playbook, and they deserve our support for standing up to biased national gatekeepers.
Americans who are tired of one-sided late-night vitriol should vote with their wallets and habits: boycott advertisers that prop up networks that refuse accountability and flood their airwaves with partisan attacks. If enough patriots push back, corporate executives will learn that pleasing a shrinking coastal elite comes at the cost of losing loyal customers and viewers.
This episode is a wake-up call: the media establishment will always test our tolerance for their abuses until we push back harder. Stand with the local broadcasters who put community standards first, demand transparency from Disney and ABC, and never surrender the fight for a fair and sane national conversation.
