Disney made Jimmy Kimmel’s problems worse

Jimmy Kimmel returns to the air Tuesday night, six days and four shows after production was “indefinitely” suspended — and without a single problem actually solved.

ABC’s suspension kicked off when the network’s late-night host claimed conservative organizer Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin was “anything other than” a conservative MAGA supporter, prompting broad outrage and cable channel owners Sinclair and Nexstar to refuse to air his program on their combined 71 ABC affiliates before further discussions.

A smug, unfunny show losing millions while alienating Christians, Republicans, and affiliates simply isn’t a good business model.

The only thing that’s changed here is ABC’s (and parent company Disney’s) decision. There have reportedly been no talks with either Sinclair or Nexstar, and the two companies have said they will continue to pre-empt the show until some satisfaction has been reached.

Further, there’s no indication that Kimmel is prepared to apologize. Early talks convinced his executives that rather than backtrack or apologize, he would double down in his attacks on conservatives mourning the public murder of a young champion. This stubbornness reportedly played into their decision to yank him from the air for a time.

But why would they expect much different? A Newsbusters study released Friday found that since 2023, 92% of the host's jokes have beat on conservative Americans and a whopping 97% of his political guests were liberals.

The study found he went at President Donald Trump more than 10 times the amount he teased the brain-addled Joe Biden. The next runners-up were the admittedly hysterical former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), followed by Elon Musk, Mike Lindell, Melania Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Trump supporters, Eric Trump, and then, more broadly, Republicans. He mocked Republicans at a rate more than 17 times that of Democrats, conservatives more than 10 times as much as he mocked liberals, and Fox News and Newsmax more than 25 times CNN (with no jokes about MSNBC).

He made fun of Vice President JD Vance at nearly five times the rate he made fun of Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and former Vice President Kamala Harris combined, despite their clownish run for president, and targeted Republican Speakers of the House Mike Johnson (La.) and Kevin McCarthy (Calif.) at nearly 28 times the rate he made fun of former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.).

The list goes on and on, but people like Kimmel (and a whole lot of his executives) don’t have to face pushback because they simply do not hang out with people who disagree with them. Walk into the average Manhattan studio, and you’ll find plenty of men and women, black, white, Asian and Hispanic, gay, straight, and trans, but good luck finding someone who so much as voted for even Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president (forget about Trump), or who goes to church on Sunday.

Sinclair and Nexstar are different. They serve their communities and answer to them. Sinclair owns affiliates in markets like Birmingham, Ala.; Little Rock, Ark.; Eureka, Calif.; Tallahassee, Fla.; Decatur, Ill.; North Platte, Neb.; Tulsa, Okla.; Amarillo, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Va. The Dallas-based Nexstar’s ABC affiliates air in markets like Midland, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Springfield, Mo.; Wichita, Kan.; and Fort Wayne, Ind.

New York-based executives reportedly didn’t reach out to these companies or answer any of their concerns. Instead, they got screamed at by the liberals in Hollywood and the legacy press, got a bunch of threatening messages (and even bullets fired) by Democrat radicals, and caved. They’ll get a big night tonight with all the interest tuned up for their host’s tired bit, but the reality of Kimmel's out-of-touch and spiteful set won’t change.

More, Disney hasn't fixed the problem that the show is losing millions a year. While threats and boycotts can be scary to any corporate suite, a smug, unfunny show losing millions while alienating Christians, Republicans, and affiliates simply isn’t a good business model.

That’s good news, because it’s toxic TV. Kimmel plans to host Democrat California Gov. Gavin Newsom as his first guest tonight. Washington, D.C., bars had to cancel their watch parties, however — Sinclair owns the local affiliate. Ya hate to see it, folks.

Blaze News: Nexstar stands its ground, keeps blocking Kimmel's show

Blaze News: ABC backtracks on Kimmel suspension days after a radical suspect shoots up an affiliate station

Blaze News: How Charlie Kirk's murder unmasked a diabolical spiritual war

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr: ‘Democrats are engaged in nothing more than projection and distortion.’

Sign up for Bedford’s newsletter
Sign up to get Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford’s newsletter.