Overview

• Jimmy Kimmel’s cousin and longtime writer Sal Iacono said on a podcast that “explosive” developments could arrive this week and hinted the show might not return, without offering details.
• ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel Live! off the air indefinitely last week and is continuing talks with Kimmel and Disney executives as the show’s staff remains on payroll for now.
• Support swelled from celebrities and civil‑liberties advocates, including an ACLU letter signed by Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Aniston and others, alongside public boycott calls and cancellations of Disney+ reported by figures like Cynthia Nixon and Howard Stern.
• Constitutional and regulatory specialists, as well as FCC Commissioner Anna Gómez, argue the agency cannot censor or punish broadcasters for disfavored speech under the First Amendment and Section 326 of the Communications Act.
• The suspension followed FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s public warning that ABC affiliates could face license action—“the easy way or the hard way”—as some owners reportedly threatened to appropriate the program, while President Trump denied direct White House pressure yet continued criticizing hostile networks and musing about license revocations.