Who Made the Decision to Pull ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ from Air?

Top executives at Disney made the decision on Wednesday, Sept. 17, to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely, according to news outlets

A source told the outlets that a Disney executive spoke on the phone with the TV host prior to announcing the decision and they had a “thoughtful conversation” that was “businesslike and polite”

Another source told the outlets that one of the factors that influenced Disney executives to pull the show was Nexstar Media’s decision to preempt airings of the program

Top Disney executives were behind the move to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! from the air indefinitely.
Disney CEO Bob Iger and co-chairman of Disney Entertainment Dana Walden made the decision on Wednesday, Sept. 17, to put the show on hold in the wake of comments host Jimmy Kimmel made about the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, according to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Deadline, who cited company insiders.
Walden had reportedly spoken on the phone with Kimmel — and had what was characterized as a “thoughtful conversation” with him — hours before his show was set to start filming, according to Deadline.
A source told the outlet that “both sides were very businesslike and polite,” though it was unclear what was said. However, the insider told Deadline that Disney was hopeful to have Jimmy Kimmel Live! return to the air “soon.”
PEOPLE reached out to Disney for comment.

One of the factors that influenced Disney executives to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live! was reportedly Nexstar Media’s decision to preempt airings of the program “for the foreseeable future,” a source told WSJ. Nexstar Media is the largest local broadcast and digital media company in the U.S. and owns more than 200 television stations in 116 markets.

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Nexstar said in a statement to PEOPLE on Sept. 17 that the company “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”
ABC announced the decision to pull the show from its network on Tuesday, two days after Kimmel, 57, mentioned Kirk in his monologue. Kirk was shot and killed during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10. He was 31.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! Pulled by ABC ‘Indefinitely’ After Host’s Comments About Charlie Kirk
What Did Jimmy Kimmel Say About Charlie Kirk’s Death on His Late-Night Show? Read the Full Transcript
During Kimmel’s monologue on Monday, Sept. 15, he directly addressed Trump’s “Make America Great Again” supporters, saying, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
ABC’s decision was also made hours after the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Brendan Carr, who was appointed by President Donald Trump, commented that Kimmel had shown “some of the sickest conduct possible” with his statements involving Kirk and urged Disney to take action, per Deadline.
Carr previously told WSJ that the agency would not hesitate to go after broadcasters that the FCC believed weren’t serving public interest with their news and programming, saying, “broadcast licenses are not sacred cows.”
Following CBS’ cancellation of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the president took to his Truth Social account, claiming, “The word is, and it’s a strong word at that, Jimmy Kimmel is NEXT to go in the untalented Late Night Sweepstakes and, shortly thereafter, [Jimmy] Fallon will be gone.”
“These are people with absolutely NO TALENT, who were paid Millions of Dollars for, in all cases, destroying what used to be GREAT Television,” Trump wrote. “It’s really good to see them go, and I hope I played a major part in it!”
PEOPLE reached out to representatives for Kimmel.