Jimmy Kimmel has refused calls to apologize to the family of the slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk or to make a donation to Kirk’s relatives and Turning Point USA, rebuffing conditions set by a major ABC affiliate owner for his late-night show to return to air, according to multiple outlets, as ABC continues to keep “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off its schedule following a backlash over the host’s monologues about the killing. Entertainment trades and tabloid reports said Kimmel has told Disney executives he will not issue a contrition statement to satisfy affiliates; a New York Post account reported he told Disney’s Dana Walden he “wouldn’t apologize,” while Page Six said he was asked to apologize and donate but “refused.” ABC has said the program is being pre-empted “indefinitely.”
The hard line from the host follows an unusually public set of demands from Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns or operates dozens of ABC stations. In a statement posted on its corporate site, Sinclair said Kimmel must “issue a direct apology to the Kirk family” and “make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA,” adding that the company would not return the show “until we are confident that appropriate steps have been taken to uphold the standards expected of a national broadcast platform.” Sinclair said ABC’s suspension “is not enough,” and urged additional actions by the network and regulators.
Entertainment Weekly summarized the ultimatum and Sinclair’s posture, reporting the company’s insistence that Kimmel both apologize and make donations to Kirk’s family and to Turning Point USA, the youth organization he co-founded. The outlet said Sinclair declared it would keep the show off its ABC stations unless those steps were taken. Fortune separately reported that Sinclair planned to replace Kimmel’s time slot with a remembrance of Kirk and had called on Kimmel “to make a meaningful personal donation” to the family and Turning Point USA.
Pressure from affiliates mounted after Nexstar Media Group, another large owner of ABC stations, pre-empted the program, citing “community values,” a move that sharply curtailed the show’s national reach even before ABC’s decision to remove it from the network schedule. Deadline said Nexstar joined the outcry and highlighted Sinclair’s specific conditions, including “a direct apology to the Kirk family” and a donation to them and to Turning Point USA. CBS News, citing Nexstar, reported the company’s decision to pull the show “was made unilaterally” and that it had “no communication with the FCC or any government agency” beforehand.
Kimmel has not issued a public statement addressing Sinclair’s demands. The New York Post reported that he told Disney’s Walden he would not apologize over the controversy, while Page Six wrote that he was asked to apologize and make a donation “but he refused.” Yahoo, citing unnamed insiders, reported the host “will not fake an apology” amid the suspension. The accounts depict a standoff in which the host is resisting conditions that an affiliate owner has linked to any reinstatement on its stations.
The dispute grew from Kimmel’s monologues earlier in the week about Kirk’s killing during a campus event in Orem, Utah. In remarks carried widely by U.S. media, Kimmel said “many in MAGA-land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk” and criticized attempts to recast the suspect’s politics. Those lines prompted swift statements from station groups; ABC then confirmed it would pre-empt the program without a return date. People and Entertainment Weekly both reported on Sinclair’s conditions and the network’s status update, while CBS News’s account emphasized the affiliate decisions that preceded ABC’s move.
Sinclair’s corporate statement formalized what had begun as public pressure from affiliates and from Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr. Fox News reported Carr defended ABC affiliates that dropped the show and argued that late-night programs had “alienated audiences.” Variety quoted Carr describing Kimmel’s conduct as “some of the sickest” he had seen, while a separate Variety item said Nexstar denied its decision was prompted by Carr’s comments. CBS News quoted Nexstar saying it did not consult the FCC before acting. The cross-cutting set of statements from affiliates and the regulator created an unusual dynamic for a late-night show, in which carriage decisions and regulatory rhetoric have become part of the programming dispute.
The Desk, a media-industry site, reported that Sinclair “wants Jimmy Kimmel to apologize” and “make a personal donation to Turning Point USA” and said the broadcaster is seeking high-level discussions with ABC about standards and accountability. Newsweek, in a survey of the controversy, said Sinclair had called on Kimmel to apologize directly to Kirk’s family over remarks he made about the conservative activist and to make a donation to them and to Turning Point. People likewise reported that Sinclair and Nexstar had pulled the show and that Sinclair had set conditions for any return. These publications collectively outline the leverage path affiliates are attempting to use to influence the network’s handling of a marquee late-night franchise.
In the background, ABC’s on-air pause of the program remains in effect. The network has described the step as an open-ended pre-emption rather than a cancellation, a distinction that leaves room for reinstatement if affiliate opposition softens or conditions are otherwise resolved. Entertainment Weekly said Sinclair declared that ABC’s suspension “is not enough” and demanded both the apology and the donations. Fortune said the group intended to run a Kirk tribute in Kimmel’s slot “and is offering this content to other ABC affiliates nationwide.” CBS News’s account stressed that Nexstar’s pre-emption was decided by its executives and was not coordinated with federal officials.
Kimmel’s refusal to accede to the demands, reported by the Post and Page Six, places the host at odds not only with a major affiliate owner but also with a regulatory climate in which the FCC chair has publicly applauded stations that dropped the show. Variety quoted Carr’s description of Kimmel’s remarks as “the sickest conduct possible,” while Fox News reported Carr’s defense of affiliate decisions to halt carriage. In response, People and other outlets have documented statements from Hollywood figures and unions criticizing the suspension; however, ABC has not tied the show’s future to any public apology. The standoff therefore turns on whether affiliates maintain conditions that the host is unwilling to meet.
A number of outlets have described the demands as personal rather than purely corporate. Sinclair’s statement specifies that the host himself, not merely the network, should “issue a direct apology” and make “a meaningful personal donation” to Kirk’s family and to Turning Point USA, and says Sinclair will not bring the program back to its ABC stations until “appropriate steps have been taken.” The Desk reported that the company sought high-level meetings with ABC executives about professionalism and accountability in national programming. Deadline’s report likewise detailed the dual requirements of an apology and donations. These conditions go beyond typical program-standards negotiations and have sharpened the question of whether a national network can restore a show to its schedule while large affiliate groups decline to carry it.
Kimmel’s team has remained silent publicly about whether discussions with Disney or ABC executives could produce a resolution short of a public apology and personal donations. Yahoo, citing unnamed sources, reported that Kimmel “will not fake an apology,” while the New York Post and Page Six said he has already rebuffed internal urgings to apologize. ABC’s posture, described by CBS News and People, is that the show is off the air for now, with affiliates filling the slot with local or alternative programming; Fortune said Sinclair planned a Kirk tribute program for the hour.
Kirk, 31, co-founded Turning Point USA and was killed by a single rifle shot during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10; a 22-year-old man has been charged with aggravated murder and related offenses, and prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty. Kimmel’s on-air comments, delivered in the days after the killing, focused on what he called political attempts to “capitalize on the murder,” a characterization that affiliates and the FCC chair cited in justifying or defending the program’s removal. As of Friday, ABC had not set any return date for the show, and Kimmel’s reported refusal to apologize left the dispute unresolved. The central facts are therefore fixed: affiliates have demanded a direct apology and personal donations; the network has paused the show; and, according to multiple reports, the host has declined to comply.
Sinclair’s conditions and Kimmel’s refusal have turned a programming controversy into a test of leverage between a network, its affiliates and a star who has fronted a late-night franchise since 2003. Whether ABC can reinstate the show without satisfying an affiliate group that says it will not carry the program absent an apology and donations will determine the practical effect of any corporate decision. For now, Sinclair’s statement sets the threshold—“a direct apology” and “a meaningful personal donation”—and the host’s reported response sets the countervailing line: no apology. The gap between the two positions, rather than any technical scheduling decision, is what continues to keep the show off air.