Briefnow
May 05, 2026

ABC Pulls Jimmy Kimmel Live Off Air Without Explanation

ABC abruptly pulled “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air Thursday night, leaving viewers and guests scrambling for answers.

The long-running late-night show had been scheduled to feature actor David Duchovny, “Stranger Things” star Joe Keery, and singer Madison Beer, who broke the news herself hours before airtime.

“Due to unforeseen circumstances, @jimmykimmellive needed to reschedule my performance that was originally scheduled to air tonight to a later date,” Beer posted on X at 6:33 p.m. ET.

ABC has not commented on the sudden cancellation, but the industry site LateNighter reported that the decision stemmed from “a personal matter.”

When viewers tuned in at 11:35 p.m

When viewers tuned in at 11:35 p.m

When viewers tuned in at 11:35 p.m. ET, they were met not with Kimmel’s opening monologue but with a rerun from Oct. 28 — and widespread confusion.

A Reddit user claiming to have tickets for Thursday’s taping shared what appeared to be an email from the show’s audience department. “Tonight’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live has been postponed,” it read. “Apologies for any inconvenience. Will contact you to reschedule for a future taping.”

But this marks the second sudden disappearance in recent months

Kimmel, who typically records his show Monday through Thursday at 4:30 p.m. PST, has rarely missed a broadcast in his 22 years behind the desk. But this marks the second sudden disappearance in recent months.

In September, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was briefly suspended after Kimmel unleashed an anti Trump rant, accusing “the MAGA gang” of trying to “characterize a murder suspect as anything other than one of them” after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk

In September, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” was briefly suspended after Kimmel unleashed an anti-Trump rant, accusing “the MAGA gang” of trying to “characterize a murder suspect as anything other than one of them” after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on Sept

“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said on Sept. 15.

Sinclair Broadcast Group and Nexstar Media Group said after the episode aired that they would pull the program from dozens of ABC affiliates, citing Kimmel’s comments as “ill-timed and insensitive.”

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