Jimmy Kimmel

Photographer: Randy Holmes/Disney/Getty Images

Walt Disney Co. is bringing Jimmy Kimmel back for at least one more year.

The late-night star, who was suspended in September over remarks about slain GOP activist Charlie Kirk, will continue to host Jimmy Kimmel Live! until May 2027 under a new, one-year deal with Disney’s ABC network, four people familiar with the matter said.

Kimmel announced the news to his staff Monday, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the deal isn’t public. His current contract expires in May of next year.

Kimmel, 58, and Disney agreed on the extension months ago and delayed announcing their plans out of respect for fellow late-night host Stephen Colbert, according to the people. CBS announced in July that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert would end in May 2026. Kimmel’s plans changed again amid the controversy that followed his comments about Kirk, which prompted criticism from President Donald Trump and led to a brief suspension.

A former radio personality, Kimmel has been hosting his late-night talk show since 2003. He and Disney have ties that extend beyond late night. Kimmel has emceed the Oscars, appeared regularly at the company’s annual presentation to advertisers and is the host of the rebooted Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Like all late-night comedy shows, Jimmy Kimmel Live! has been losing viewers. The show employs a couple hundred people and has trimmed costs to offset the decline in advertising sales.

Kimmel attracted his largest regular late-night audience ever after his suspension was lifted and averaged about 1.9 million viewers a night in the third quarter, according to Nielsen data, placing second among the three major late-night shows.

In a Sept. 15 monologue, Kimmel said Republicans had tried to capitalize on the assassination of Kirk. Some viewers said he was blaming conservatives for the shooting death. The outcry led Disney to suspend the program for a few days.

Some local station owners preempted the show, while Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, called on them to strike back against broadcast networks.

Politicians and comedians expressed concern that President Trump was trying to police comedy. Trump has been a frequent critic of Kimmel, calling for Disney to cancel the show.

In his Sept. 23 return to the air, Kimmel said “it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”

Kimmel has flirted with calling it quits for a few years. Though he’s said he doesn’t think late-night TV will exist in its current form for much longer, he didn’t want to leave at the same time as Colbert, who is in the midst of an extended goodbye tour.

Once a key part of the cultural landscape, late-night shows have struggled to remain relevant as young viewers have embraced online alternatives to live TV and topical humor has proliferated on social media.

Hosts like Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon generate millions of views online, but those clips don’t produce enough money to support a show with hundreds of employees.

Kimmel started his career in Seattle, later moving to Tampa, Florida; Tucson, Arizona; and, eventually, Los Angeles. He is one of the longest-serving late-night hosts in TV history. He has reduced his workload in recent years, taking the summers off from the show.