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Jimmy Kimmel Live! returned to TV on Tuesday with some of the highest ratings in the past 10 years after the show was indefinitely pulled off the air.
ABC said that the first episode after Kimmel’s suspension gained an average of 6.3 million television viewers, three times more than the show’s average viewership.
The high figures were reported despite two U.S. station owners, Sinclair and Nexstar, preempting the show and effectively cutting off about 23% of American households.
- 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' returned with 6.3 million viewers, tripling its average despite blackouts in 23% of U.S. households.
- Kimmel's monologue hit a record 19 million YouTube views, marking his most-watched performance ever on the platform.
- Disney suspended Kimmel after his critical comments about Charlie Kirk's killer, sparking widespread free speech debates.
- Joe Rogan and conservatives opposed Kimmel’s suspension, warning against government interference in comedy.
Jimmy Kimmel pulled in millions of viewers on Tuesday
Image credits: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation
Kimmel also performed extremely well on YouTube and, as of Thursday, had over 19 million views on his monologue.
The figures mark Kimmel’s most-viewed monologue on the platform.
ABC said the show also scored its “highest regularly scheduled episode in over 10 years” in the age 18 to 49 viewer demographic.
The impressive data comes after Disney pulled Kimmel from the air over comments he made on the gunman who killed Charlie Kirk.
Not a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel, but if you think his show should be canceled for this, you’re a hack and a total fraud who should never pretend to care about free speech pic.twitter.com/FSiktbva6y
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) September 17, 2025
“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 before his suspension.
He went on to compare Trump’s grief over Kirk to that of a toddler mourning a goldfish.
Suspected Kirk shooter Tyler Robinson has left-leaning views, according to authorities.
Trump-appointed chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Brendan Carr suggested ABC could be targeted if action was not taken against Kimmel.
Image credits: Michael Buckner/Deadline via Getty Images
After Sinclair and Nexstar pulled the show, ABC announced that Kimmel was being suspended for an indefinite period.
The news sparked uproar across the political spectrum, with conservative voices also raising concerns of government interference in free speech.
Podcaster Joe Rogan, who helped elect Trump but has recently been critical of the president, slammed the decision on his show before news broke that Kimmel had been reinstated.
“First of all, I definitely don’t think that the government should be involved—ever—in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue, that’s f*****g crazy,” Rogan said on Tuesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
Disney received huge backlash for suspending Kimmel
Joe Rogan on Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension: “I definitely don’t think that the government should be involved, ever, in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue. That’s fucking crazy.” pic.twitter.com/w7DMYvSRp2
— Media Matters (@mmfa) September 23, 2025
He went on to describe people on the right as “crazy for supporting this, because this will be used on you.”
Rogan further criticized Trump for his Truth Social posts insulting Kimmel and welcoming his suspension.
“I think that is also f*****g insane … How do you have time while you’re running the world to be tweeting that you don’t like talk show hosts? That is so crazy,” Rogan said.
“You can’t support in any shape or form the government censoring free speech.”
Trump on Tuesday threatened to sue ABC over Kimmel’s reinstatement, saying Kimmel should be left to “rot.”
“I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Image credits: Mario Tama/Getty Images
Disney has faced huge backlash for its decision to suspend the show and was at the center of protests the past week, with boycotters cancelling subscriptions to its streaming platform.
Investors are among those demanding answers over Kimmel’s suspension after the fallout led to the company dropping $4 billion in market value last week.
Lawyers for Disney shareholders — including the American Federation of Teachers, and Reporters Without Borders — are seeking board records related to Kimmel’s suspension, Semafor reported.
In a letter shared with the publication, the group said investors had the right to know if the company’s leaders “did not properly discharge their fiduciary duties”
It is seeking documents that project how Kimmel’s suspension could impact Disney’s earnings, along with records explaining the guidelines executives follow when handling “politically sensitive programming.”
Image credits: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
The group is also requesting copies of Disney’s contracts with affiliate broadcasters Nexstar and Sinclair, whose early blackout threats seem to have triggered Kimmel’s suspension.
Exchanges among board members, including CEO Bob Iger, and any correspondence between Disney and government officials or political groups are also being requested.
“Although we are pleased that ABC did the right thing and put Jimmy Kimmel back on the air last night, due to the Trump administration’s continued threats to free speech, including with respect to ABC, we are writing to seek transparency into the initial decision to suspend him and his show,” the letter said.
“There is a credible basis to suspect that the Board and executives may have breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty, care, and good faith by placing improper political or affiliate considerations above the best interests of the Company and its stockholders.”
It comes at a time when Disney is grappling with a steep decline from its former cultural dominance.
Once able to command the global box office and position itself as a forward-thinking force in Hollywood, the company now faces a crisis of confidence marked by faltering creative decisions, retreat from earlier commitments to diversity, and leadership upheaval.
As The Guardian notes, Disney’s golden run peaked in 2019 when it delivered nearly every major hit of the year, but since then, it has stumbled through a string of controversies and commercially underwhelming releases, leaving the studio both cautious and exposed.
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