Jimmy Kimmel Scored a Legal Victory a Week Before His Show Returned to the Air
One week after the indefinite suspension of his show, Jimmy Kimmel is gearing up to go back on the air. While Jimmy Kimmel Live! won’t be available on every channel, the reversal of the suspension is a victory for Kimmel amid a national conversation about free speech and censorship. On the same day Kimmel gave the monologue that landed him in hot water with the FCC, he scored a legal victory.
Jimmy Kimmel defeated George Santos in a lawsuit over clips played on his show
In 2024, former Rep. George Santos lost a federal lawsuit he filed against Kimmel. After his expulsion from Congress in 2023, Santos joined Cameo, a platform that allows public figures to give personalized fan greetings for money. Kimmel’s staffers paid Santos $400 per Cameo and played the results on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Santos filed a lawsuit against Kimmel. His lawyers argued that it was not “fair use” to obtain a video and broadcast it on television. Santos ultimately lost the lawsuit, but he filed an appeal.
On Sept. 15, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan dismissed the lawsuit. Per AP, they noted that Kimmel used the videos for sarcastic criticism and commentary, which is protected by the fair use doctrine.
Jimmy Kimmel’s show will return to the air after its suspension
On the same day that the appeals court threw out Santos’ lawsuit, Kimmel gave the monologue that resulted in his suspension. In it, he criticized hypocrisy and “angry finger-pointing” in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder. One week later, though, he will return to the air.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” said the Walt Disney Company in a statement (per People). “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
The decision came after widespread backlash over what many viewed as an infringement on Kimmel’s First Amendment rights. Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
The program will not be available on every channel
While Disney made the decision to put Kimmel back on the air, not every station will play his show. ABC affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair Broadcast Group will preempt the show with news programming. Sinclair noted that they will continue conversations with ABC about a potential return for the show in the future.
Kimmel has not yet spoken publicly about the suspension and subsequent reinstatement of his show. He did recently posted a photograph of himself with Norman Lear to his Instagram account with the caption “Missing this guy today.”
Lear famously pushed for freedom of speech on television and had a contentious relationship with the FCC as a result.
