Jimmy Kimmel extends ABC contract through 2027

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After an unusual year in his late-night tenure, Jimmy Kimmel is officially sticking around for a little while longer.The host signed a one-year contract extension with ABC so “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” will continue through May 2027.

Kimmel’s previous contract was set to expire in May 2026, at the end of the 2025-2026 television season.The extension, first reported by Bloomberg, comes a few months after the network and its parent company, Walt Disney Co., temporarily benched Kimmel following sharp backlash over comments he made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.

Hours before the indefinite suspension was announced, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, owners of ABC affiliates, said they would not air the series after Kimmel’s comments.Kimmel returned to the air after a nearly weeklong absence, delivering an emotional monologue in which he ardently defended free speech.

He did not explicitly apologize for his comments, which Sinclair said was a condition that had to be met before it would broadcast the show again, but both Nexstar and Sinclair resumed airing the program shortly after Kimmel returned.Television Jimmy Kimmel returned Tuesday to his late-night show on ABC, where he addressed his comments on Charlie Kirk’s death and thanked those who have supported him in the past week.During his brief time off the air, Kimmel found himself at the center of a fiery culture war.

Talk show hosts, actors, comedians, writers and even the former head of Disney condemned ABC’s decision to pause production, but a wave of critics celebrated Kimmel’s suspension, including President Trump and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who had publicly urged ABC to act on Kimmel’s comments.The late-night landscape has been the subject of much discourse about free speech since CBS announced in July that it would not be renewing the s...