Jimmy Kimmel returns: Hollywood and political leaders react

• Jimmy Kimmel’s show is returning to the air after being pulled last week by Disney-owned ABC.
• Ben Stiller and Gov. Gavin Newsom were among the prominent figures celebrating the news.
• The decision to pull the show faced backlash, including protests and boycott calls.

Less than a week after his show was pulled from the air, Jimmy Kimmel was set to make his return to late-night.

Celebrities and politicians reacted to the news after the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, said “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would air again on Tuesday.

ABC had announced on Wednesday last week that the show would be pulled off the air indefinitely following comments Kimmel made after the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. The cancellation came after pressure from FCC Chair Brendan Carr and the media company Nexstar, which owns ABC affiliate stations.

While President Donald Trump celebrated the initial decision, it was also met with protests and calls to boycott Disney.

On Monday, Disney said it decided to return Kimmel to the air.

Here’s how celebrities and other prominent figures reacted to the news.

Ben Stiller

Comedian Ben Stiller reshared the news that Kimmel was returning to the air with several celebratory emojis in a post on X.

Stiller has previously said on X that pulling Kimmel’s show from the air wasn’t right.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom

California Gov. Gavin Newsom reacted to the news on X in a post that called out Carr.

“Thank you to everyone but @BrendanCarrFCC. This is a win for free speech everywhere,” the post said.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr

When reached by Business Insider to comment on Kimmel’s show returning to air, Carr referred to comments he made earlier in the day at the Concordia Summit in New York City.

Carr said the FCC was trying to “empower local TV stations to serve the needs of the local communities.”

He said national programmers, such as Disney and ABC, have had too much control over the local TV stations that air their content, and that the local stations don’t feel like they can push back even when the programming is not a good fit for their communities.

Carr said the Kimmel situation was an example of those local stations standing up. He said the idea that the FCC threatened to revoke the licenses of Disney and ABC if they did not fire Kimmel was false.

“A lot of the last couple of days can be boiled down, at least in my view, to projection and distortion,” he said.

This is a developing story check back for updates.

Peter Kafka contributed to this reporting.

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