American late-night television is in the midst of its biggest crisis in decades. It is again making the headlines on Friday, 20th March, 2026. The Oscars, intended as a celebration of cinema earlier this week, instead became a battleground for free speech. This incident has set off a new firestorm around the status of Jimmy Kimmel on ABC.
If you’ve been following the news, the phrase ‘Jimmy Kimmel suspension’ has stuck to the host like glue. To understand why everyone is talking about it today, we have to understand the explosive events of the past few days. There is a nefarious corporate merger that has received the blessings of the White House, and it changes everything about the late-night landscape. The merger we are referring to is Nexstar acquiring Tegna at a cost of $6.2 billion.
The Monologue That Changed Everything
On the 15th of September 2025, Jimmy Kimmel was doing what he’s done for over two decades—cracking jokes and making political observations on Jimmy Kimmel Live! That Monday night, he commented on the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, saying the “MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.” The show was pulled by ABC and its corporate parent, Walt Disney, after conservative backlash and public intervention from Trump administration officials.
Now here is where things get messy. Officials later said the 22-year-old accused gunman had “started to lean more left” and shot Kirk because he “had enough of his hatred”. So Kimmel’s suggestion was factually off. But being wrong about a political observation — even a clumsy one — has never historically cost someone their job on television. Not until now.
The FCC Enters the Room
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, whose agency licenses local TV stations across the country, appeared on a conservative podcast and said the matter could be handled “the easy way or the hard way” for ABC and parent company Disney.
That line. Right there. That’s the one that made constitutional scholars sit up straight.
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression counsel Ari Cohn said, “The government pressured ABC — and ABC caved. The timing of ABC’s decision, on the heels of the FCC chairman’s pledge to ‘do this the easy way or the hard way’, tells the whole story.”
Hours after Carr spoke, Nexstar, one of the biggest owners of local TV stations in the country—including 28 ABC affiliates—said it would preempt the show. Sinclair, another major station group, followed suit. And then, within the same day, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter, ABC made it official: Jimmy Kimmel suspension was on. The show pulled. Indefinitely.
Trump, naturally, was delighted. As reported by Yahoo News, he posted on Truth Social, calling it “Great News for America” and congratulating ABC for “finally having the courage to do what had to be done.” He’d famously said earlier that summer, after Stephen Colbert’s show was cancelled, “I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Six Days of Silence
Kimmel remembered later calling his executive producers into his office. “I thought, ‘That’s it. It’s over, it’s over. I was like, I will never get back on the air.”
But he did come back. September 23, 2025 — After a six-day hiatus, Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned. His initial words were, “My goal was never to make light of the murder of a young man. His voice cracking, he thanked those who had stood by him but reserved his strongest words for people who didn’t even agree with him but still defended his right to speak.
More than 400 Hollywood figures signed an open letter condemning the Jimmy Kimmel suspension. Even Republican Senator Ted Cruz, long a target of Kimmel’s jokes, called the FCC’s threats “unbelievably dangerous” and compared some of Carr’s language to that of a gangster.
Sinclair said it would still not air the show on its 35-plus ABC affiliates, replacing it with news programming. Nexstar eventually backed down. The whole affair sparked one of the most serious free-speech conversations in American broadcasting since the McCarthy era.
The Merger That Nobody’s Talking About (But Should Be)
Now here’s the bit that makes the whole story click into place.
Both Disney and Nexstar had pending FCC business. Disney was seeking regulatory approval for ESPN’s acquisition of the NFL Network. Nexstar needed the Trump administration’s go-ahead to complete its $6.2 billion purchase of rival broadcaster Tegna.
So the same company that pulled Kimmel off the air was the same company that desperately needed a favour from the very regulator who had threatened Kimmel’s network. Coincidence? Nexstar denied it. But the timing was, to put it mildly, a bit too neat.
On the 19th of March 2026, which is this Thursday, the FCC approved the merger of Nexstar and Tegna, creating a company that owns 265 television stations in 44 states and Washington DC. As reported by CNN, critics noted that “Nexstar has been all too willing to comply with Carr’s bullying if it means getting this deal done and cementing its domination over the local airwaves.”
Eight state attorneys general aren’t buying it either. California, New York, Colorado, Illinois, Oregon, North Carolina, Connecticut, and Virginia filed a lawsuit in a California federal court on the 18th of March, arguing the merger is illegal and threatens local news competition. According to DailyVoice, New York Attorney General Letitia James said it “threatens local news and could raise fees for consumers.” The suit was filed the very day before the FCC approved the deal. The FCC had to waive longstanding rules that prevent a single company from owning stations reaching more than 39% of all US television households. Under this deal, Nexstar would reach roughly 80% of the country.
Back at the Oscars
This past Sunday, the 15th of March 2026, Kimmel walked onto the Dolby Theatre stage to present an award at the Oscars. He wasn’t hosting — Conan O’Brien had that job this year. But Kimmel didn’t waste his moment. As reported by Deadline, he told the audience, “We hear a lot about courage at shows like this, but telling a story that could get you killed for telling it is real courage. As you know, there are some countries whose leaders don’t support free speech. I’m not at liberty to say which. Let’s just leave it at North Korea and CBS.”
The room erupted. The dig at CBS was pointed — Skydance, in seeking FCC approval for its merger with Paramount, had agreed to hire an ombudsman to handle complaints about CBS News. Shortly before the FCC signed off, CBS cancelled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The pattern, in Kimmel’s eyes, is obvious.
The White House fired back almost immediately, with Communications Director Steven Cheung calling Kimmel a “classless hack” on social media. Business as usual, really.
What This All Actually Means
So is Kimmel suspended again right now? No, not as of today. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is still on air. But the atmosphere around it has shifted in a way that’s genuinely unsettling for anyone who cares about what ends up on their telly.
The ACLU’s Christopher Anders called Kimmel “the latest target of the Trump administration’s unconstitutional plan to silence its critics and control what the American people watch and read.” Even Joe Rogan, not exactly known for his liberal sympathies, warned conservatives celebrating the Jimmy Kimmel suspension that they were “crazy for supporting this, because this will be used on you.”
The crazy part is that NBC News reports that the Nexstar-Tegna merger, the same one tied up in all of this, has now been approved despite active lawsuits, with eight states fighting it in court. The FCC waived ownership rules specifically to let it through. And the same network that pulled Kimmel for six days is now one of the most powerful broadcast empires in American history.
Kimmel’s contract with ABC was reportedly up in May 2026. Whether he signs again, and on what terms, remains one of the most watched stories in American media right now.
Whatever happens next, one thing’s clear: late-night television will never quite go back to being just a bloke in a suit making jokes about the news. The news came for the bloke in the suit — and now everybody’s watching to see what he does about it.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What was the Jimmy Kimmel suspension about?
ABC, and its parent company Disney, suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! from September 17 to September 22, 2025. after criticism of comments Kimmel made about conservatives’ response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
What did Jimmy Kimmel actually say?
During his monologue on Sept. 15, Kimmel said Trump supporters were trying to “score political points” by portraying Kirk’s alleged killer as a radical leftist, and that included the suggestion Robinson was “one of them.”
Did the FCC force ABC to suspend the show?
The chairman of the F.C.C., Brendan Carr, called in to a podcast and told Disney that it could address things “the easy way or the hard way.” Hours later, Nexstar and Sinclair pulled the show from their affiliates, and ABC joined. Carr subsequently claimed he never directly threatened to revoke licences.
What is the Nexstar-Tegna merger, and why does it matter?
The approval of the $6.2 billion Nexstar-Tegna merger by the FCC on 19 March 2026 forms a conglomerate that owns a total of 265 TV stations in 44 states. Critics argue that Nexstar’s decision to remove Kimmel stems partially by its need for FCC approval of the deal.
What did Kimmel say at the 2026 Oscars?
In his presentation during the 15 March 2026 ceremony, Kimmel quipped about countries whose leaders don’t value free speech, naming “North Korea and CBS” — a pointed allusion to the more widespread trend of capitulation to government pressure by broadcasters.
Is Jimmy Kimmel’s show still running?
Yes. As of today, the 20th of March 2026, Jimmy Kimmel Live! continues to air on ABC. However, his contract was set to run until May 2026, and his future with the network remains uncertain.
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