Jimmy Kimmel Will Return to Air Tuesday

Jimmy Kimmel will be back on air Tuesday — but he won’t be apologizing for his false claim last week that Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer was part of the “MAGA gang,” The Post has reported.

The $15 million-per-year ABC late-night host negotiated his return to the airwaves directly with Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger and his No. 2, Disney Entertainment Co-Chair Dana Walden, sources with knowledge of the situation told The Post.

Kimmel will address the controversy during his monologue on Tuesday though he will stop short of apologizing, the sources said.

It’s not clear whether ABC’s two biggest station owners will carry the program after they pushed to yank him from the airways for the Sept. 15 comments about Kirk’s assassination.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns dozens of ABC affiliates, had publicly demanded Kimmel apologize to Kirk’s family and pledge a donation to Turning Point USA, the activist group Kirk founded.

The company signaled it could preempt the program if those conditions were not met. Nexstar Media Group also threatened to pull the show unless Disney acted.

Andrew Kolvet, chief spokesperson for Turning Point USA, wrote on X: “Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmell back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make. Nexstar and Sinclair do not have to make the same choice.”

In a statement Monday, Disney said it suspended Kimmel last Wednesday “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country,” calling some of his comments “ill-timed and thus insensitive.”

The suspension followed a monologue in which Kimmel claimed Kirk was killed by other Trump supporters — despite authorities saying the alleged shooter had left-wing views.

It remains unclear what Disney and Kimmel agreed to secure his return to air. The company has not disclosed whether the talks involved new contract terms or a donation to Kirk’s organization. Reports have suggested those points were central to discussions, but no final details have been confirmed.

Kimmel’s current contract with ABC runs through May 2026, following a three-year extension signed in 2022. He reportedly earns between $15 and $16 million per year, with total compensation potentially exceeding $20 million with bonuses.

The move left Disney squeezed from both sides: conservatives enraged by Kimmel’s remarks and his apparent refusal to apologize, and liberals angered that the company appeared to bow to pressure from FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and pro-Trump voices.

Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner ripped the company for pulling “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in the first place.

Eisner accused Disney of capitulating to “intimidation” from Washington regulators and demanded to know, “Where has all the leadership gone?”

“Maybe the Constitution should have said, ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, except in one’s political or financial self-interest,’” Eisner added.

The suspension drew fire from organized labor as well.

SAG-AFTRA, which represents film and television actors as well as dancer, stunt performers and singers, blasted the decision, calling it retaliation for speech on matters of public concern and warning it endangered all Americans’ freedoms.

“Our society depends on the free and open exchange of ideas,” the union declared, urging Disney to reinstate the program immediately and vowing solidarity with media artists.

Hollywood’s top names also lined up behind Kimmel.

Howard Stern called the suspension “horrible” and “outrageous,” announced he had canceled his Disney+ subscription, and decried what he called government pressure to silence a broadcaster.

David Letterman, the former late night host, branded the move “misery,” saying ABC was bowing to “an authoritarian criminal administration” and revealing he had privately texted Kimmel to say he would be “fine.”

Stephen Colbert labeled the suspension “blatant censorship” designed to appease President Trump.

Jimmy Fallon offered his support on air while vowing to keep making jokes about the president.

An ACLU-organized open letter condemning Disney’s suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” drew signatures from roughly 400 Hollywood figures — including Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston, Robert De Niro, and more — urging support for free speech. The letter frames Kimmel’s suspension as occurring amid pressure from FCC chair Brendan Carr and affiliate threats by Nexstar and Sinclair, and calls on Americans to defend the right to speak without government or corporate retaliation.

“We now find ourselves in a modern McCarthy era, facing exactly the type of heavy-handed government censorship our Constitution rightfully forbids,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the ACLU, which organized the letter.

“The silencing of Jimmy Kimmel and jawboning of media outlets through lawsuits and threats to their licenses evoke dark memories of the 1950s. We must remember, however, that Senator McCarthy was ultimately disgraced and neutralized once Americans mobilized and stood up to him. We must do the same today because together, our voices are louder and together, we will fight to be heard.”

The White House, meanwhile, denied that Kimmel’s suspension was the result of government-driven suppression of speech.

“This has nothing to do with free speech,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told The Post, adding that “low-ratings loser Kimmel is free to make whatever bad jokes he wants, but a private company is under no obligation to lose money producing unpopular shows.”

“Jimmy Kimmel’s terrible product isn’t a free speech problem; it’s a talent problem,” Jackson said.