Jimmy Kimmel’s return represents a big, final test for Disney’s Bob Iger before he heads for the exits

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Hi! Did you catch Jimmy Kimmel last night? The late-night host’s show returned after a brief suspension over comments regarding Charlie Kirk. In case you missed it, or you’re in a market where local affiliates are still refusing to air the show, we’ve got a rundown of all the highlights.

Kimmel teared up, explaining that he never intended to make light of Kirk’s death. And he called political efforts to sway networks and affiliates from airing the show “un-American,” noting it wasn’t just about comedy.

Late-night hosts, including Kimmel, made one thing very clear, wrote veteran late-night watcher Cheryl Teh: They’ll be thorns in Trump’s side for as long as they can be.

In today’s big story, navigating Kimmel’s return could be the last big test for Disney CEO Bob Iger’s legacy.

What’s on deck:

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But first, a legacy in question.

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The big story

Mouse trap

Will Bob Iger leave Disney a Magic Kingdom or a Haunted Mansion?

Despite spending nearly two decades running Disney, what happens over the next few weeks could ultimately define Iger’s legacy.

The Jimmy Kimmel saga has put the Disney CEO in the middle of a culture war involving high-profile celebrities, a government agency, and President Donald Trump.

Iger’s handling of the continued fallout from Kimmel’s suspension-turned-reinstatement could cement how the legendary executive is remembered, write BI’s Lucia Moses, Madeline Berg, and Tim Paradis.

It won’t be easy, as Disney has managed to enrage both sides of the aisle. Kimmel supporters are upset he was suspended in the first place, while his detractors are mad he was let back on the air.

And we’re not just talking about Disney adults and anonymous internet commentators here. Some players on both sides of the argument hold significant power over the House of Mouse.

Celebrities, who have mostly backed Kimmel, are Disney’s lifeblood. If the company were to lose creative community’s support, that’s a problem. It’s tough to create shows and movies if you don’t have people willing to make them with you.

That’s not to say you want to pick a fight with the other side. The two local TV station owners that refuse to air Kimmel’s show, Nexstar and Sinclair, oversee roughly 25% of ABC stations. It’s the latest in the growing tension between Disney and its local broadcasters, writes BI’s James Faris.

They also have the backing of FCC Chair Brendan Carr, who called local TV stations’ resistance to national programmers “a good thing.”

It’s a marked change from when Iger was looking to take the company a little over a year ago.

Back in April 2024, Iger made clear Disney was about entertaining, not advancing “any kind of agenda.” Shaking Disney of the so-called “woke” label has been a priority since his return as CEO in 2022.

He’s also got plenty of other things on his plate without Kimmelgate. There’s the matter of who will take over as CEO when Iger is set to step down at the end of 2026. It’s something he’s keen to get right after the debacle that was the Bob Chapek era.

That process will likely need to be sidelined as Iger navigates the Kimmel situation. Both sides will closely watch the show’s future, and each decision will be scrutinized for its underlying political meaning, even if there isn’t one.

Iger will also have to endure more criticism, like the one he received from his former boss, ex-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who blasted the decision to suspend Kimmel.

To Disney and Iger’s credit, they might have found some common ground for both sides. On Tuesday, the company announced plans to raise the monthly price of some of its Disney+ subscriptions by $2 to $3 next month.

Because if there is anything we can all agree on, it’s getting annoyed over the price of our streaming services going up.

3 things in markets

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How President Trump’s $100,000 H-1B affects Wall Street. Silicon Valley isn’t the only sector reeling from the new H-1B fee. Many Wall Street banks rely heavily on the program. JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon said he expects pushback on Trump’s plan, adding that he supports “merit-based immigration.” BI crunched the data to find out which financial firms could be impacted the most.

The insane schedule of investing personality Jim Cramer. Running on about four hours of sleep, the “Mad Money” host wakes up every day at 3:15 a.m. to brush up on the market before his workout. He also combs through about 700 emails a day.

3 things in tech

Amazon’s Q Developer isn’t doing so hot. The online retailer’s AI coding assistant saw revenue fall behind rivals in its first year, according to internal documents reviewed by BI. Amazon also has plans to refine Q’s branding as the company’s employees appear to favor external products like Cursor over its tech.

The Zuckerberg playbook for pleasing Republicans. Last year, Mark Zuckerberg addressed Republicans’ complaints of anti-conservative bias on Meta’s platforms by shifting the blame to the Biden administration in a letter to Congress. Google just copied the play and took it one step further.

The one thing OpenAI’s $100 billion deal with Nvidia can’t guarantee. The deal gives OpenAI a significant leg up in the AI race, providing vital access to GPUs. However, it can’t guarantee access to electricity, which remains an industry-wide challenge.

3 things in business

Spooky season is here, and so is “hybrid creep.” Many employers are gradually increasing the number of days workers must show up at the office. A new survey, commissioned by Owl Labs, shows 34% of employees must be on-site four days a week, up from 23% in 2023. The subtle trend could signal the end of flexible work at some companies.

Trust is dead. Can the “Chief Trust Officer” revive it? Some companies have added a new position to the C-suite: the chief trust officer. They’re tasked with protecting against data breaches, answering questions about their companies’ use of AI, and building trust — a challenge since trust is a complex emotion and not a metric.

Tylenol’s groundhog day. Tylenol’s owner Johnson & Johnson pioneered crisis management with its response to the “Tylenol murders” in 1982, when seven people died from taking Tylenol capsules that someone laced with potassium cyanide. Tylenol is now staring down another PR crisis after President Trump called it unsafe. Communications experts broke down what worked for J&J then and how it could play out now.

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What’s happening today

• NASA IMAP mission to study the sun’s heliosphere launches.
• American Bankers Association Economic Advisory Committee presents latest forecast.

Dan DeFrancesco, deputy executive editor and anchor, in New York. Meghan Morris, bureau chief, in Singapore. Akin Oyedele, deputy editor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in New York. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York.

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