Jimmy Kimmel Talks ABC Suspension and State of Late-Night TV

Comedian Jimmy Kimmel thought his late-night show was over after ABC suspended the program following comments he made over the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk.

“A list of demands was presented to me, and I was not going to go along with any of them,” the host said at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday. “And it’s like, well, I guess we’re done. I said to my wife, ‘That’s it. It’s over.’”

In a wide-ranging interview, his first since returning to the air, Kimmel said his comments about Kirk’s killing were “intentionally and maliciously mischaracterized” by the political right.

The host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network became a central figure in the Trump administration’s culture wars following the comments he made last month. Kimmel’s remarks prompted Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr to tell TV stations to drop the show or potentially face regulatory consequences. 

Kimmel, whose contract is up in May, declined to say whether he will continue hosting the show after that. 

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