Syracuse ABC affiliate NewsChannel9 to not air ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’
Syracuse’s NewsChannel9, an ABC affiliate owned by Nexstar Media Group, announced it will not run “Jimmy Kimmel Live” tonight, despite ABC lifting the show’s suspension after a week. Angelina Grevi | Staff Photographer
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NewsChannel9, a Syracuse ABC affiliate, will not air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for its return on Tuesday night.
Nexstar Media Group, which owns a large group of ABC affiliates across the country, said it “stands by” its decision not to display the program after it was taken off the air following Kimmel’s remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death. ABC decided to lift the show’s suspension Monday.
“We made a decision last week to preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse,” Nexstar said in a Tuesday release. “We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.”
NewsChannel 9, a Nexstar-owned station, will run “Bridget Street” in place of the late-night show, Syracuse.com reported.
During Kimmel’s monologue on his Sept. 15 show, he said President Donald Trump and his allies were “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.”
The comment resulted in outrage from conservative figures, including Trump and Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr, who urged ABC to stop airing the show to avoid consequences. ABC then pulled the late-night show “indefinitely” on Sept. 17.
The show will return Tuesday night, just under a week after it was pulled.
“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. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” Disney said in a Monday statement.
As of Tuesday evening, Kimmel and Disney have yet to make an outright apology, even though the company called the remarks “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”
Kimmel’s return to air Tuesday evening can be viewed everywhere on Disney-owned streaming services, including Hulu and Disney+.
