Former CEO of Disney Bob Iger he denied that Jimmy Kimmel he was suspended from his ABC night show last year to prove the organization’s loyalty to the President Donald Trump.
“It wasn’t like that,” Iger, 75, told reporters Financial Times in an interview published on Saturday, June 20. “We thought [Kimmel’s joke] it wasn’t fun.”
Iger revealed that Kimmel’s suspension lasted less than a week, saying, “We just wanted him to acknowledge that the comments were ill-timed and possibly inappropriate.”
(Iger stepped down as CEO of Disney in March, changing his role instead Josh D’Amaro.)
The latest controversy erupted over Kimmel, 58, discussing the murder of Charlie Kirk while a conservative activist gives a speech on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025.
(Tyler James Robinson he was later charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm and aggravated battery in front of a minor, as well as two counts of obstruction of justice and witness tampering. (Robinson, 22, has yet to apply.)
In his time Jimmy Kimmel Live! In a monologue on September 15, 2025, Kimmel sparked controversy when he discussed Kirk’s death at age 31.
“We had a blast over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to portray this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything but one and doing everything they could to score political points,” Kimmel said. “Amid the finger-pointing, there was grief.”
Kimmel then showed footage of Trump, 80, discussing his plans to rebuild the White House after Kirk’s death.
Jimmy Kimmel
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images“He’s in stage four of grief, construction,” Kimmel joked. “Demolition, construction.”
I Jimmy Kimmel Live! The broadcaster added, “This is not how an adult mourns the death of someone he called his friend. This is how a four-year-old child mourns a goldfish.”
Days after the comedy first aired, dozens of conservative groups called for a boycott of ABC and several station owners, including Nexstar Media and Sinclair, vowed not to play. Jimmy Kimmel Live! he even publicly apologized. ABC finally confirmed that Us Weekly on September 17, 2025, that the comic show will be “off the air forever.”
Kimmel was off the air for a total of six days before ABC was reinstated Jimmy Kimmel Live! in its midweek list on September 22, 2025.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to stop production of the program to avoid exacerbating the current tense situation affecting our country,” the company said in a statement. Us learn. “It is a decision we have taken because we feel that some of the speeches were timely and therefore irrelevant.” We spent the last few days having thoughtful discussions with Jimmy, and after those discussions, we came to the decision to bring the show back to Tuesday.”
Kimmel told viewers in his return monologue, “I’ve been hearing a lot about what to do and say tonight, and the truth is, I don’t think what I’m going to say is going to make much of a difference.”
“If you like me, you like me, if you don’t, I have no plans to change anyone’s mind, but I want to clarify something because it is important to me as a person: It was not my intention to make a mistake about the murder of a young man. I don’t think there is anything funny about it,” explained Kimmel.
ABC eventually signed Kimmel to a one-year contract through December 2025, despite Trump’s repeated requests that the network fire him.
Kimmel has continued to get along with Trump in the months since his return to the air, most recently picking on the longtime president’s enemies. Rosie O’Donnell for tourists Jimmy Kimmel Live! during his summer vacation.
“As a special treat to our host, I asked one of his all-time favorites, Rosie O’Donnell, to be here to keep the hits coming. So, you’re welcome,” he told viewers on Thursday, June 18. “All I ask in return, Mr.
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weekdays on ABC at 11:35 pm ET.
