ABC Will Air Special Tribute to Charlie Kirk Jimmy Kimmel’s Former Timeslot

The ground has shifted.

Sinclair’s ABC stations to Air Special in Remembrance of Charlie Kirk During Jimmy Kimmel Live! Friday Timeslot

Sinclair’s ABC stations will air a special in remembrance of Charlie Kirk this Friday, during the Jimmy Kimmel Live! timeslot. The special will also air across all…

— Sinclair, Inc. (@WeAreSinclair) September 18, 2025

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— Sinclair, Inc. (@WeAreSinclair) September 18, 2025

Dozens of ABC stations to air Charlie Kirk tribute special during Jimmy Kimmel’s time slot

Sinclair Broadcast Group called Kimmel’s comments ‘inappropriate and deeply insensitive’

By Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Fox News, September 17, 2025 11:05pm EDT

Dozens of ABC affiliate stations will air a tribute special for Charlie Kirk in Jimmy Kimmel’s time slot on Friday following the liberal host’s controversial remarks about the conservative activist’s alleged assassin.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, which operates 30 ABC affiliates, announced Wednesday it would air a special “in remembrance of Charlie Kirk” after Disney decided to pull “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely.

Sinclair had joined Nexstar, another owner of ABC affiliates, in pre-empting Kimmel’s late-night program before Disney’s decision.
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“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country,” Sinclair Vice Chairman Jason Smith said in a statement.

Sinclair, which has come under criticism from other media outlets for airing right-leaning content, said it would not lift the suspension “until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability.”

“Sinclair also calls upon Mr. Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family. Furthermore, we ask Mr. Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk family and Turning Point USA,” the company stated. “Regardless of ABC’s plans for the future of the program, Sinclair intends not to return ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ to our air until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.”

Earlier in the day, Nexstar Media Group announced it was pre-empting “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on its ABC affiliates.

“Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views or values of the local communities in which we are located,” Nexstar’s broadcasting chief, Andrew Alford, said in a press release.

“Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to pre-empt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.”

On Monday, Kimmel accused conservatives of reaching “new lows” in trying to pin a left-wing ideology on 22-year-old suspect Tyler Robinson, even though prosecutors reaffirmed those ties in Tuesday’s indictment.

“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,” Kimmel said.

Kimmel received sharp criticism for appearing to suggest the killer was a MAGA supporter. Some of his defenders have suggested he’s been taken out of context or mischaracterized.

The Hollywood Reporter reported Kimmel was prepared to address the backlash on Wednesday’s show and “planned to explain what he said and demonstrate how it was taken out of context.” However, Disney took the decision out of his hands.

Continued….