Nexstar has released a statement in response to questions about refusing to air Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show on its ABC affiliates.
“Nexstar is continuing to evaluate the status of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on our ABC-affiliated local television stations, and the show will be preempted while we do so. We are engaged in productive discussions with executives at The Walt Disney Company, with a focus on ensuring the program reflects and respects the diverse interests of the communities we serve.”
The show was suspended after Kimmel’s on-air comments about the President’s response to the death of Charlie Kirk. Backlash to the decision to take the show off the air came from both political sides, with politicians, lawmakers, political commentators and others arguing that the move was an attack on free speech.
Disney, parent company of ABC, announced Monday that the show would return on Tuesday and made the following statement.
“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 Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, said in a statement on Monday. “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.”
However, Sinclair decided to preempt the show as discussions with ABC continued. Nexstar followed suit, resulting in the show not airing on nearly 70 ABC affiliate stations.
While many viewers weren’t able to watch the show live, the monologue has gotten over 13 million views on YouTube.
“Our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television,” Kimmel said in his monologue Tuesday night. “The president of the United States made it very clear he wants to see me and the hundreds of people who work here fired from our jobs. Our leader celebrates Americans losing their livelihoods because he can’t take a joke.”