❓WHAT HAPPENED: Sinclair is preempting ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and will not return the show in key markets, despite ABC reinstating it after an earlier suspension over Kimmel’s false statements about assassinated Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Sinclair Broadcast Group; ABC/Disney; Jimmy Kimmel; Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and spokesman Andrew Kolvet; Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Beginning Tuesday across Sinclair’s ABC affiliates, including Seattle (KOMO) and Portland, with a broader impact across 18 states.

💬KEY QUOTE: “Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.” – Sinclair Broadcast Group

🎯IMPACT: Millions of viewers in Sinclair markets won’t see Kimmel; ABC’s reinstatement faces affiliate resistance.

Jimmy Kimmel‘s late-night show will not return to screens in Seattle, Portland, and other major markets after Sinclair Broadcast Group announced it will continue to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! across its ABC affiliate stations. This comes despite ABC’s decision to reinstate Kimmel following a suspension over distasteful and false remarks about the assassination of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) founder Charlie Kirk.

Sinclair, which owns 38 ABC affiliates in 18 states, said it is replacing the program with news coverage, stating, “Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return.”

The company is demanding Kimmel issue a “direct apology to the Kirk family” and make a “meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA,” the conservative youth organization Kirk founded.

Kimmel was suspended after a monologue in which he claimed “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” and accused conservatives of “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” The backlash was immediate, considering the ample evidence that alleged assassin Tyler Robinson is a radical leftist, with affiliate owners and political commentators calling for action.

Disney executives suspended Kimmel just before he was scheduled to deliver a second, even more aggressive monologue, with one insider saying, “If Jimmy went on the air, there would have been no way back from that monologue for Jimmy.”

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner Brendan Carr also criticized Kimmel’s comments, but later denied threatening ABC’s licenses, saying, “Jimmy Kimmel is in the situation he’s in because of his ratings. Not because of anything that’s happened at the federal government level.”

The fallout has reached beyond Sinclair. New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani canceled a scheduled appearance on an ABC affiliate in protest, citing Kimmel’s suspension.

In a separate incident, a man was arrested after allegedly opening fire on ABC10’s building in Sacramento, California. The suspect, reportedly an active leftist, was released by local authorities before being taken into federal custody. No injuries were reported.

Disney released a statement over the weekend saying, “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.” Nexstar, another large ABC affiliate owner, has not yet commented on whether it will resume airing Kimmel’s program.

“Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make. Nexstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice,” Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for Turning Point USA, said.

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