Jimmy Kimmel controversy: Will Disney revive ABC's late-night show? Report hints at key meet

Walt Disney Co executives are scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss whether there is a way for suspended talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel to return on air, Bloomberg reported. This comes a day after Disney indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! after the host's comments on Charlie Kirk's death started a heated debate online.

According to the report, which cites three sources, the parties will discuss the possibility of resuming the airing of Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the popular late-night show, was unexpectedly pulled off air by Disney following Jimmy Kimmel's comments on Charlie Kirk, who was recently killed in a shooting incident.

Kimmel's comments triggered backlash from right-wing activists and Kirk's supporters, while Disney faced pressure from the Federal Communications Commission and local station owners.

Donald Trump hails Disney decision

On Wednesday, ABC, owned by Walt Disney Co, announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be taken off air indefinitely after Jimmy Kimmel commented on Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer and the political ideology that he may hold.

US President Donald Trump hailed the decision, saying that Jimmy Kimmel lacked talent.

“Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings more than anything else, and he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk,” Trump said on Thursday during his press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

“So, you know, you can call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent,” he added.

Trump and his FCC Chairman, Brendan Carr, continued their criticism of Disney and ABC, with the US president threatening to revoke Disney’s broadcast license.

“When you have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday.

“I would think maybe their license should be taken away.”

What did Jimmy Kimmel say on his show?

Late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel, who has hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! since 2003, called Charlie Kirk's death a “senseless murder” a day after the fatal shooting in Utah. He condemned those who appeared to celebrate the incident.

On Monday and Tuesday, Kimmel talked about the aftermath during his show, accusing Donald Trump of “working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk.”

He focused particularly on the alleged shooter, Tyler Robinson.

“The MAGA Gang (is) desperately trying to characterise 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 in his Monday evening show.

“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving.”

Jimmy Kimmel said Trump's response “is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish, OK?”

He also commented on FBI chief Kash Patel's handling of the investigation into the killing, saying, he is “like a kid who didn't read the book, BSing his way through an oral report.”