Jimmy Kimmel will return to ABC on Tuesday night, the Walt Disney Co. said.<\/p>\n
The move follows conversations between the two sides to figure out how to defuse the situation that began with Kimmel\u2019s comments in the aftermath of the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. <\/p>\n
\u201cLast 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,\u201d the company said in a statement. \u201cIt is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kimmel\u2019s representatives did not immediately comment, but the breakthrough comes as free speech protests grew loud and some consumers, including radio personality Howard Stern, announced they had canceled their Disney+ subscriptions to lodge their dismay. <\/p>\n
The Kimmel suspension put Disney executives in the center of the nation\u2019s divisive politics and the debate over free speech.
At a protest outside the El Capitan Theatre on Monday, one demonstrator hoisted a hand-made sign saying: \u201cThe Mouse is a Cowardly Louse.\u201d<\/p>\n
The late-night program has been dark since Wednesday, when the Disney-owned ABC network announced in a terse statement that it will be \u201cpreempted indefinitely.\u201d The move followed decisions by two major owners of ABC affiliate stations to drop the show because of Kimmel\u2019s remarks about the suspect in Kirk\u2019s shooting death.<\/p>\n
On last Monday\u2019s show, Kimmel seemed to suggest during his monologue that Tyler Robinson<\/a>, the Utah man accused in the shooting death of Kirk, might have been a pro-Trump Republican. He said MAGA supporters \u201care 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump supporters were livid. The remarks prompted a widespread conservative backlash on social media, including demands for Kimmel\u2019s firing. Kimmel, who has expressed sympathy for Kirk\u2019s family online, has not yet commented.<\/p>\n Anger was building within the creative community over Kimmel\u2019s removal, which Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr<\/a> called for during a podcast interview that aired on Wednesday. <\/p>\n