The set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! is in chaos as Kimmel prepares to deliver his much-anticipated monologue tonight (Sept. 23).
An insider tells the Daily Mail that there is “chaos” backstage. The insider said Kimmel’s staff threatens to walk out “if he grovels or falls on his sword.”
ABC suspended Kimmel’s show last week over comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s death and President Trump.
During his monologue last Monday. Kimmel said the “MAGA gang” was attempting to portray Kirk’s killer “as anything other than one of them.”
Sinclair Inc. and Nexstar pulled Kimmel’s show from their ABC affiliate stations.
ABC announced Kimmel’s show was suspended “indefinitely.”
The suspension sparked a massive boycott movement that resulted in millions of people canceling their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions.
Disney lost $4 billion in benefit overnight.
Disney, which owns ABC, announced Monday that Kimmel’s show would return on Tuesday night.
But no one knows what Kimmel will say in his monologue because his writers are being kept out of the process.
“We were all in agreement about the things Kimmel said.”
The writers who put the words in Kimmel’s mouth that got him suspended are not involved in writing tonight’s monologue.
The insider told the Daily Mail that the writers would feel “betrayed” if Kimmel didn’t “come out swinging.”
The team agreed that Kimmel’s comments about Kirk and Trump were “appropriate.”
immediately they feel betrayed that they are being kept out of the writing room.
“It’s chaos,” the source told the Daily Mail. “No one knows what Jimmy is going to say, but there are rumblings that if he apologizes, there will be a walkout.”
The insider said, “We were all in agreement about the things he said; we all felt that they were appropriate, and if he walks them back, that would invalidate what we had all discussed.”
“The rumor is that he’s going to apologize in some way.”
The insider added, “I understand that he’s got to protect his career, but he can’t do it at the expense of truth and what we all agreed on… The rumor is that he’s going to apologize in some way, or at least express his regrets. And expressing regrets is the same as apologizing.”
After Disney announced Kimmel’s return, Sinclair Broadcast Group said it would not air Kimmel’s show on any of its 38 ABC affiliate stations.
The show will be preempted with a news program, according to a statement on Monday.
In addition, Nexstar Media Group pulled the show from their ABC affiliate stations.
Both networks own more than a third of ABC’s 280 stations nationwide.
ABC faces millions in lost advertising revenue if the affiliates keep Kimmel off the air tonight.
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