Jimmy Kimmel has signed a one-year extension at ABC to continue hosting the channel’s flagship late-night talk show, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The news comes just months after the Disney-owned network briefly took the show off the air due to conservative fury over comments the host made during a monologue about the reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death.
Under the extension, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is scheduled to run through May 2027.
Bloomberg News first reported Kimmel’s extension.
Kimmel drew criticism after speculating on the political motivations of the person who authorities say fatally shot Kirk. Brendan Carr, the Trump-appointed chair of the Federal Communications Commission, described the monologue as “the sickest conduct possible.” Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, two major owners of ABC broadcast affiliates, then announced they would pre-empt Kimmel’s show.
Disney’s subsequent decision to suspend Kimmel sparked immediate public backlash, with fans decrying what they described as an infringement on the comedian’s constitutional right to free speech. Many also called for a boycott of the Disney-owned streaming services Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN.
Following mounting pressure, ABC brought Kimmel back on air nearly one week later. His return drew 6.3 million total viewers, making it the show’s highest-rated regularly scheduled episode in over a decade. In less than 24 hours, Kimmel’s opening monologue had also netted more than 26 million views across YouTube and other social media platforms, according to Disney.
The 58-year-old host had previously declined to share whether he would continue hosting the show after his contract’s expiration in May.
“I often answer that question and then I do the opposite of what I said I was going to,” he told Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw during the publication’s Screentime conference in October. “The last three contracts I said this is the last one. So I’ve learned not to say anything anymore, because it upsets my staff and it’s best that I just when I make a decision, I will make that decision.”