Jimmy Kimmel’s show will return Tuesday night after being taken off the air over his Charlie Kirk comments, but President Donald Trump’s local ABC affiliate won’t be showing it.
WJLA in the Washington, D.C., area and 29 other Sinclair-owned TV stations will continue to pre-empt ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! with news broadcasts, the television operator said Monday.
Disney announced earlier that afternoon that Kimmel will be back on the air Tuesday night following what it had described as an “indefinite” hiatus amid government pressure on Kimmel for his comments about Kirk’s murder.
Sinclair, however, has not changed its position on Kimmel, it would continue discussions with ABC on the possibility of airing Kimmel’s show.
Sinclair and Nexstar, another television operator that has been pre-empting Kimmel’s show, control a little more than 20 percent of ABC affiliates, according to research firm BIA Advisory Services. It’s unclear whether Nexstar intends to follow Sinclair’s lead; neither has responded to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Kirk’s Turning Point USA, has called on both to not “cave.”
“Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make. Nextstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice,” he wrote on X.
Sinclair’s actions in the last week—and over the past few years—may give Kolvet and others comfort.
Last Wednesday, the company said suspending Kimmel’s show was insufficient, adding that it would not air it again “until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.”
It initially planned a special program about Kirk for the Friday night time slot normally reserved for Kimmel, but aired it on YouTube instead. Still, the company said, Kimmel should apologize to Kirk’s family and donate to Turning Point USA.
Sinclair’s broadcasts have a conservative reputation. In 2018, the company drew criticism for having its news anchors read a script lamenting “the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing the country.”
That same year, former Trump administration official Boris Epshteyn was the company’s “chief political analyst” who would deliver “must-run” segments. In one instance, Epshteyn defended the U.S. Border Patrol shooting tear gas at women and children asylum seekers.
In 2023, Sinclair also had to backtrack when it was made aware that gold investment segments it was airing on 16 stations featured an antisemitic conspiracy theorist.
