‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ crew will be paid next week, as future of show remains in limbo
By Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN
(CNN) — Jimmy Kimmel’s staff will continue to be paid for the time being, as discussions continue between the late-night host and Disney executives over the future of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
The program was abruptly “pre-empted indefinitely” on Wednesday amid controversy over comments Kimmel made in a monologue about Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer. The decision was announced hours after the Trump administration official responsible for licensing ABC’s local stations publicly pressured the company to punish Kimmel.
Two sources close to Kimmel’s show told CNN that the crew for the late-night show will be paid through next week, while the future of the program remains in limbo.
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” employs a staff of roughly 200 to 250 individuals, operating out of a theater in Hollywood. Kimmel is said to be incredibly mindful of his staff, as he weighs his options during ongoing discussions with ABC.
This isn’t the first time Kimmel has had his staff front of mind. During the WGA strike, which shut down Hollywood productions in 2023, Kimmel provided funds for his crew when production on his show was halted. When production was shut down again during wildfires in Los Angeles earlier this year, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” used its Hollywood backlot as a donation center to collect and distribute resources to those impacted by the disaster.
A source familiar with Kimmel and Disney’s discussions previously told CNN that Kimmel met with top ABC executives this week at the Century City office of his attorney, along with his manager, to discuss a possible path forward with his show. No resolution has yet been reached.
Disney is “hopeful” to find a path forward to bring Kimmel’s show back, another source told CNN earlier this week.
Both parties – Disney and Kimmel – need to reach an agreement with how to continue the show following the “real, serious threat” of ABC losing its local broadcast licenses, the source said at the time.
Amid right-wing uproar over Kimmel’s comments regarding the politicization of Kirk’s assassination, Disney executives spoke directly to Kimmel on Wednesday afternoon after Trump’s Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr appeared on a conservative podcast.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
Then a substantial number of local affiliates owned by Nexstar and Sinclair announced that they would not air Kimmel’s show.
ABC executives had conversations with Kimmel about “taking down the temperature,” according to the source. Kimmel declined to change his prepared monologue for Wednesday night’s show, which the source described as taking aim at Fox News and Trump’s MAGA base. That’s when Disney CEO Bob Iger and Disney Entertainment co-chairman Dana Walden made the decision to pre-empt Kimmel’s show indefinitely, in hopes of discussing how to move forward with the host and comedian.
“Everyone deeply values him and wants him to come back. But he has to take down the temperature,” the source familiar told CNN earlier this week.
The-CNN-Wire
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