How Did 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Suspension Impact ABC Financially? Inside How the Decision Cost Disney Millions

Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled off the air days after host Jimmy Kimmel made controversial comments surrounding the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk.

The late-night show was initially put on an "indefinite" hold by network executives, a decision that resulted in major financial ramifications for ABC and its parent organization, The Walt Disney Company. The program was reinstated less than a week later.

The Walt Disney Company announced in a statement this week that Jimmy Kimmel Live! would be returning to production after being placed on an “indefinite” hiatus on September 17.

“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” the company said in press announcement on Monday, September 22, per Variety. “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

After the decision to pull Kimmel’s show off the air was made public on September 17, The Walt Disney Company’s stock fell 2.39 percent in just five days, which is the equivalent of nearly five billion dollars.

Kimmel’s show was placed on a hiatus by high-ranking executives for his comments on the September 15 broadcast, where he spoke about Kirk’s suspected shooter, Tyler Robinson, and made jokes about how the MAGA movement planned to use the act for political gain.

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it," the talk show host said during the opening monologue. “Many in MAGA-land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.”

Two days later, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was pulled from the air after pressure from the FCC and Nexstar, the largest broadcast and digital media company in the U.S., which operates dozens of ABC affiliates. In a press release, Nexstar said it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”

The decision to pull Kimmel’s show caused major backlash from Hollywood, as more than 400 celebrities, including Martin Short and Tom Hanks, joined forces to sign a letter from the American Civil Liberties Union, urging others to stand up for the rights of freedom of speech.