Late-night star Jimmy Kimmel is in hot water with an entire media empire, and they’re not playing around.
As we’ve been reporting, Sinclair Broadcasting Group, aka the biggest ABC affiliate operator in the country, pulled the plug on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in more than 30 of their markets, which include affiliates in cities like Seattle, Washington DC, and Portland. That came about over comments Kimmel made about conservative political pundit Charlie Kirk’s death.
And now, the 57-year-old late-night host has been given some extremely specific requests that he must complete if he ever wants to get back on television.
Related: Here’s What The View Talked About Following Jimmy Kimmel Being Pulled Off The Air
On Wednesday, Sinclair dropped a press release in which they laid out some pretty specific asks of Kimmel if he ever hopes to return to the late-night sphere. The release, from Sinclair vice chairman Jason Smith, began by saying:
“Mr. Kimmel’s remarks were inappropriate and deeply insensitive at a critical moment for our country. We believe broadcasters have a responsibility to educate and elevate respectful, constructive dialogue in our communities. We appreciate FCC Chairman [Brendan] Carr‘s remarks today and this incident highlights the critical need for the FCC to take immediate regulatory action to address control held over local broadcasters by the big national networks.”
Sinclair then laid out what they need to see before they’ll even think about putting Kimmel back on their airwaves.
The group said it wants a full-on sit-down with ABC to discuss “professionalism and accountability.” And they’re demanding Jimmy himself issue a direct apology to the Kirk family and cut a “meaningful” check to both the family and Turning Point USA — the conservative org Kirk founded that’s all about rallying young people to the right.
For now, to fill Kimmel’s empty timeslot, Sinclair stations are airing a special tribute to Charlie Kirk on Friday, and they’re rolling it out to all of their stations nationwide over the weekend. And the group said they won’t return Kimmel to their stations until they are “confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.”
Wow. So, will Jimmy issue the apology, write the check, and return to the airwaves? Should he? Either way, Sinclair’s message is crystal clear: until Jimmy makes amends, he won’t be back on their stations.
Reactions, y’all?
[Image via Charlie Kirk/YouTube/Jimmy Kimmel/YouTube]
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