Tropical Storm Imelda gained a bit of strength early Monday and was expected to be a hurricane on Tuesday. Photo courtesy of NOAA
Sept. 29 (UPI) — Tropical Storm Imelda, which formed in the Atlantic on Sunday, strengthened slightly overnight, according to forecasters, who said recent modeling showed the risk of dangerous wind impacts along the southeastern U.S. coast was diminishing.
Imelda, the ninth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, had maximum sustained winds of 45 mph, up 5 mph from late Sunday, the National Hurricane Center said in its 2 a.m. EDT update.
It was located about 130 miles northwest of the Central Bahamas and about 315 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, Fla., according to the forecasters, who said it was moving north at 8 mph.
“Strengthening is expected during the next few days, and Imelda is forecast to become a hurricane by Tuesday,” the NHC update said.
“On the forecast track, the center of the system is expected to move across the northwestern Bahamas today and then turn east-northeastward, moving away from the southeastern U.S. by the middle part of this week.”
A tropical storm warning is in effect for the Central Bahamas and San Salvador, as well as portions of the northwestern Bahamas.
Eastern Cuba is expected to see 2 to 4 inches of rain, while the northwest Bahamas could receive between 4 and 8 inches through Tuesday, the forecasters said.
“This rainfall will likely produce flash and urban flooding,” NHC said. “Mudslides are also possible in areas of higher terrain across eastern Cuba.”
Coastal southern North Carolina and southeast areas expected to see between 2 and 4 inches of rainfall with a maximum of 6 inches through Tuesday. This could also result in flash and urban flooding, the forecasters warned.
Swells generated by the cyclone, as well as Hurricane Humberto, are affecting parts of the Bahamas and are predicted to spread to the southeast U.S. coast early next week.
The potential for swells could cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, NHC said.
The Dodgers are not the norm in baseball. For the majority of teams in the major leagues, the last week of the regular season is the last week until spring training.
As the Angels played out their final week, the Angel Stadium store featured a “Thank You Fans” sale, with up to 50% off caps, T-shirts, polo shirts, jackets, even authentic Mike Trout jerseys.
Inside the clubhouse, the reminders for players had the feel of the final week of school: return your team-issued iPad; order your gloves for next season; take your exit physical.
As the Dodgers play out their final week of the regular season, on the road, the Dodger Stadium store is stocking up on blue “October Baseball” T-shirts, the same ones the players wore last week, when they clinched a postseason spot.
On Thursday, the Dodgers clinched the National League West, again. On Tuesday, the Dodgers will make their 13th consecutive postseason appearance, one shy of the major league record. Only once in those 13 seasons did the Dodgers fail to win the NL West: in 2021, when they won 106 games and the San Francisco Giants won 107.
For the Angels and their decorated closer, and for 17 other teams, Tuesday will be the second day of the offseason. That is the norm in baseball, at least outside Chavez Ravine, the Bronx, and recently Milwaukee.
Kenley Jansen played October baseball for the Dodgers from 2013-21, and for the Atlanta Braves in 2022.
In 2023, the first time in 11 years Jansen did not appear in the postseason, his family alerted him that the Dodgers’ playoff opener was on television, with good friend Clayton Kershaw pitching.
Jansen had no interest in watching.
“I’m like, guys, I’m not on the Dodgers anymore,’ ” he said this week at Angel Stadium.
He wanted to be around his family. His friends and family members wanted to be around him, which they assumed meant around baseball.
“I get it,” he said. “I still feel like I’m going to get those calls: Did you watch that game?”
He appreciates how difficult it is to get to the playoffs. In his first two full seasons, the Dodgers vs. the rest of the league at Dodger Stadium was a sideshow to the main event: Frank McCourt vs. Major League Baseball in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.
“We went from the bankrupt Dodgers to getting into the playoffs every year,” Jansen said. “I think it was the core group, the leadership that we had, plus the front office and the ownership wanting to win a championship every year. They make it competitive.
“They’ve got to keep that train going.”
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, center, celebrates with teammates in the locker room after the Dodgers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday to clinch the NL West division title.
(Darryl Webb / Associated Press)
In Anaheim, for the first time in 50 years, the Angels are bound for a second consecutive last-place finish. Their last postseason appearance: 11 years ago. Their last winning record: 10 years ago.
This playoff drought included the stretch in which Trout and Shohei Ohtani played together. The Dodgers are more — much more — than Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman.
“For me, on the other side now, I see how hard it is to get in the playoffs,” Jansen said. “It’s not easy. You’ve got to have depth — not only here in the big leagues, but depth in the system — to give yourself a chance to win the division.”
Jansen has a 2.64 ERA this season, and he has converted 28 of 29 save opportunities. He hasn’t given up a hit in more than a month.
But the Angels didn’t sell at the trade deadline, declaring they were in serious contention without buying any serious upgrades.
Dodgers fans should take it from Jansen: Don’t take this golden era for granted. Take a few days to appreciate it. On Wednesday, Jansen said, he’ll start his offseason workouts.
On Tuesday, the Dodgers will start the playoffs, trying to become baseball’s first back-to-back champions in 25 years. The percentages are not in their favor: As of Thursday, Baseball Prospectus gives the Dodgers a 9.6% chance to win the World Series, a smaller chance than the Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners.
The Angels have been so bad for so long that a division championship would be cause for great celebration. The Dodgers have been so good for so long that nothing but a World Series championship would suffice.
And so, on Tuesday, the days of gratitude can end, and Dodgers fans can resume reflexively criticizing their manager and grimacing about whether they can trust anyone in their bullpen.
Sept. 25 (UPI) — War Secretary Pete Hegseth has summoned the nation’s military leaders from around the world to meet at a Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va., for an unspecified reason on Tuesday.
The number of generals and admirals called to the meeting is the most summoned for a meeting in many years, according to The New York Times.
Other media outlets reporting the meeting include The Hill and CNN, which said hundreds of military leaders are expected to attend the high-level meeting.
“The secretary of War will be addressing his senior military leaders early next week,” War Department spokesman Sean Parnell told The Hill in a prepared statement.
He did not elaborate on the meeting’s primary purpose.
“It’s being referred to as the general squid games,” an unnamed military official told CNN.
Many in the military have suggested the meeting might regard conditions with the Defense Department, a widespread purge of military officers or possibly a major military campaign that might be in the works.
Hegseth’s directive to attend the meeting went to all senior officers holding the rank of brigadier general and higher and their counterparts in the U.S. Navy.
More than 800 generals and admirals could heed the call and arrive at the meeting, which has raised security concerns regarding having that many senior military officials gathered at the same place at the same time.
An unnamed congressional aide suggested the meeting might involve overhauling the U.S. military command structure or possibly a pending major military campaign.
When Hegseth was being vetted for his current position, he criticized the large number of four-star generals and admirals in the U.S. military and said the nation won World War II with far fewer.
PHOENIX — Shohei Ohtani entered uncharted territory in his final pitching start of the regular season, shutting out the Arizona Diamondbacks over a season-high six innings in the Dodgers’ 5-4 walk-off loss Tuesday night.
The question now, with the start of the playoffs looming: When will the two-way star toe the rubber next?
After a season spent mostly in rehab mode as a pitcher, building his workload inning by inning as he slowly worked his way back from a second Tommy John surgery, Ohtani has checked every box in his recovery and looks primed for what will be his first career postseason pitching outing.
On Tuesday, his fastball was elite once again, topping out at 101.2 mph and accounting for five of his eight total strikeouts. The rest of his seven-pitch mix kept the wild-card-seeking Diamondbacks off balance, resulting in just five hits (all singles) and no walks.
Most of all, the right-hander was also efficient, needing only 91 throws to work past the fifth inning for the first time this year.
“Over the last three or four starts, there’s been a ramp-up of intensity and performance,” manager Dave Roberts said of Ohtani, who has given up one run in 19 ⅓ innings over his last four outings to finish the regular season with a 2.87 ERA in 15 starts.
“I think that was his plan.”
Now, it’s up to the team to make a plan for its postseason pitching rotation and figure out exactly where Ohtani fits within it.
Roberts has virtually guaranteed that the reigning National League MVP will be used as a starter in next week’s best-of-three wild card round (which the Dodgers are all but assured of playing in, even if they sew up an NL West division title that has a magic number of three.
And as things currently stand, Ohtani would be lined up to go in Game 1, after the team moved his weekly pitching schedule this month to have him start on Tuesdays. Coincidentally or not, Game 1 of the wild-card round would be next Tuesday.
The reasons for opening that series with Ohtani on the mound are obvious — from his electric stuff, to his penchant for performing in big moments, to ensuring he does pitch in a series that could end in only two games.
However, Roberts insisted team officials “don’t know yet” how their postseason rotation will be ordered. Between the ever-present concerns about managing Ohtani’s two-way workload, and the team’s other wealth of starting options in what has been a resurgent rotation over the last month, there’s debate to be had about how to best maximize their $700-million superstar.
The Dodgers could, for instance, opt to start the wild-card series with Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Games 1 and 2, and save Ohtani for a potential Game 3. The benefit there: Ohtani could focus solely on his duties as designated hitter the first two games, and wouldn’t be required to play the day immediately after a pitching start (he is hitting only .138 in such games this season, and the Dodgers have made an effort to get him starts immediately before off days in recent months).
Because Ohtani isn’t as built-up as the team’s other starters, delaying his start could also ease the burden early in the series on a shaky bullpen, which coughed up a 4-0 lead Tuesday after rookies Jack Dreyer and Edgardo Henriquez combined to surrender three runs in the seventh, and closer Tanner Scott blew his 10th save in a two-run ninth punctuated by Geraldo Perdomo’s walk-off single.
“I think it just kind of gives us some options,” Roberts said of having Ohtani potentially lined up for a Game 1 start. “But the likelihood of him starting a playoff game in that first series is very high.”
Whenever Ohtani takes the mound again, the Dodgers are hopeful that concerns about his pitching stamina will be somewhat assuaged.
Up until this week, the team had a hard cap of five innings for whenever Ohtani took the mound. For the sake of his health, they were reluctant to waver from it, even when Ohtani had a no-hitter through five his last time out against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Prior to Tuesday’s series-opener at Chase Field, however, Roberts said that “if all goes well,” Ohtani would pitch into the sixth inning and that his leash could be further loosened in October after recent conversations between the player and club.
“I feel really good with the conversation I had with Shohei about how today could potentially play out,” Roberts said pregame. “This is me talking to the training staff, talking to Shohei, feeling like we’ve got a really good base now.”
Once the sixth arrived Tuesday night, Ohtani made Roberts’ decision easy. He had yielded just three hits to that point (one of them, a comebacker that got him in the palm of his glove in the third). The Dodgers had a comfortable early lead, after Teoscar Hernández homered in the second and belted a two-run, two-out triple in the top of the sixth (catcher Ben Rortvedt added a run with his first Dodgers homer in the seventh).
Five batters later, Ohtani’s night was done, the right-hander stranding a pair of sixth-inning singles by getting Gabriel Moreno to line out to center and retire the side.
The next time he takes the mound, it will be his first time pitching in a postseason setting. Whether it comes in Game 1, or later in the best-of-three wild card series, will now be up for the team to decide.
Bullpen reinforcements
The Dodgers have at least one bullpen reinforcement coming in this series, with rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki set to be activated on Wednesday in his long-awaited return from a shoulder injury.
However, the status of trade deadline acquisition Brock Stewart remains in question. Though Stewart completed a recent minor-league rehab stint, and was with the team in Arizona on Tuesday, Roberts said the club is still “making sure he feels good” after missing the last six weeks with a shoulder injury. It is unclear if he will be activated this week, as originally expected.
“[We’re] making sure he’s put in a position to feel good if he is activated,” Roberts said. “That’s no guarantee … We’ll know more tomorrow.”
Before Tuesday’s game, Stewart threw an extended flat-ground session in front of a team trainer and general manager Brandon Gomes. The three talked for several minutes once Stewart’s session was complete.
Tuesday’s show marked Kimmel’s return to his talk series since Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC announced last week that it was suspending the show indefinitely. The decision came after Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcasting, owners of ABC affiliates, said they would not air the show because of comments Kimmel made about the suspect in the shooting death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Both companies said they would continue to keep “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off air.
Kimmel was greeted by the studio audience with a long standing ovation and chants of “Jimmy.” He cracked a joke to open: “Who had a weirder 48 hours — me or the CEO of Tylenol?”
The host said he was moved by the support he had received from friends and fans, but especially from those who disagree with him. He cited comments from Ted Cruz and mentioned the support he received from Ben Shapiro, Candace Owens and Mitch McConnell.
“Our government cannot be allowed to control what we do and do not say on television, and that we have to stand up to it,” he said. “I’ve been hearing a lot about what I need to say and do tonight, and the truth is, I don’t think what I have to say is going to make much of a difference. If you like me, you like me; if you don’t, you don’t; I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind.”
What was most important to him, though, was imparting that it was “never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” Kimmel said through tears.
“I understand that to some that felt either ill timed or unclear or maybe both, and for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset,” Kimmel said of his comments about Kirk’s suspected killer. “If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way. I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to, even though we don’t agree on politics at all. I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone. This was a sick person who believed violence was a solution and it isn’t.”
Kimmel also said his ability to speak freely is “something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen [Colbert] off the air and tried to coerce the affiliates who run our show in the cities that you live in to take my show off the air.”
“That’s not legal,” he continued. “That’s not American. That is un-American.”
The host did not comment on his suspension until Tuesday’s episode, which will air on the West Coast at 11:35 p.m. PT, but talk show hosts, actors, comedians, writers and even the former head of Disney had condemned ABC’s decision to pause production.
Hours before he taped Tuesday’s episode, Kimmel posted on Instagram for the first time since his suspension, sharing a photo of himself with iconic television creator Norman Lear. Kimmel captioned the photo “Missing this guy today.” The late Lear, whom Kimmel collaborated with on the television specials “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” was an outspoken advocate for freedom of speech and the 1st Amendment and he founded the organization People for the American Way, which aims to stop censorship as one of its many goals.
Trump also took to social media before Tuesday’s episode to express his thoughts about Kimmel’s return, writing on Truth Social that he couldn’t believe the show was coming back: “The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled [sic]!”
“Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE,” Trump continued. “He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution.
He went on to write he wanted to “test ABC out on this.”
“Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars,” he wrote, referencing the settlement with ABC after Trump filed a defamation lawsuit over inaccurate statements made about him by ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos. “This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
Pressure to suspend Kimmel came from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, who said in a podcast interview last week that ABC had to act on Kimmel’s comments. The Trump appointee said, “We can do it the easy way or the hard way.”
Hours later, Nexstar, which controls 32 ABC affiliates, agreed to drop “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” indefinitely, and ABC followed with its own announcement that it was pulling Kimmel from the network. Sinclair Broadcasting, a TV station company long sympathetic to conservative causes, also shelved the show and went a step further by demanding that Kimmel make a financial contribution to Kirk’s family and his conservative advocacy organization Turning Point USA.
FCC Commissioner Anna M. Gomez, one of three commissioners, and the only Democratic member, released a searing statement the next day.
Gomez said the FCC “does not have the authority, the ability, or the constitutional right to police content or punish broadcasters for speech the government dislikes” and called the network’s move a “shameful show of cowardly corporate capitulation by ABC that has put the foundation of the First Amendment in danger.”
“When corporations surrender in the face of that pressure, they endanger not just themselves, but the right to free expression for everyone in this country,” Gomez continued. “The duty to defend the First Amendment does not rest with government, but with all of us. Free speech is the foundation of our democracy, and we must push back against any attempt to erode it.”
Times staff writers Stephen Battaglio and Meg James contributed to this report.
One pundit tracking the autonomous driving specialist published a bullish update.
Chinese autonomous driving tech company Pony AI(PONY 3.84%) motored well higher on the stock exchange Tuesday. On the back of a fresh analyst update, investors crowded into the stock to leave it with a gain of nearly 4% the trading session. That contrasted with the trajectory of the benchmark S&P 500 index, which moved in reverse with a 0.6% decline on the day.
Ramping up service hours and road testing
Well before market open, Goldman Sachs prognosticator Allen Chang boosted his Pony AI price target by 13%. In his opinion the stock is now worth $27.70 per share, up from his previous level of $24.50. Chang maintained his buy recommendation, which is sensible given that the new fair value assessment is nearly 30% above the company’s latest closing price.
Image source: Getty Images.
The latest developments announced by Pony AI are the key factors in the analyst’s move, according to reports. The Goldman Sachs pundit pointed out that the company has started road testing its Gen-7 robotaxi in the major Chinese cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. Additionally, in certain markets where its service is live, Pony AI has expanded operating hours from 15 per day to a full 24.
Chang also mentioned that the company began full commercial service in Pudong, a busy district in the country’s most high-profile city, Shanghai.
Self-driving success
Given these advancements in commercialization, Chang feels that Pony AI has more than a chance to increase its gross merchandise value (GMV) per robotaxi. That, combined with its ambition to grow its fleet to 1,000 vehicles by the end of this year, bodes well for growth in the fundamentals.
Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Goldman Sachs Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
That was among the first things Tim Skipper said this week, the interim UCLA football coach’s opening remarks part introduction, part pep rally, part ritualistic cleansing.
The Bruins needed drastic change after an 0-3 start led to the dismissal of coach DeShaun Foster, and Skipper provided a promising start. He was engaging, energetic and about as insightful as one could possibly be only four days into the job.
It was a refreshing departure from a predecessor who displayed little of the enthusiasm that he preached.
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In perhaps the most encouraging early sign, Skipper disclosed that there had been no immediate player defections, though that could change given that everyone on the roster has 30 days to enter the transfer portal. Defensive coordinator Ikaika Malloe’s mutually agreed-upon departure was certainly a blow, but the team is finalizing the addition of veteran assistant Kevin Coyle — a former longtime college and NFL defensive coordinator — to help coach the defense for the rest of the season.
The strain of the previous week was apparent in the words of offensive tackle Garrett DiGiorgio, who spoke glowingly of both Foster and Malloe while discussing the players’ role in the struggles that led to the coaching change.
“I think he could tell that we all felt that way,” DiGiorgio said, referring to the team’s brief farewell meeting with Foster, “like we knew we had responsibility as a team and we knew that it wasn’t all on him.”
Skipper acknowledged the need to change the style of play for a team that has been badly outperformed on both sides of the ball. He said the Bruins must play harder, faster and more physical, with coaches helping to make that possible by simplifying schemes so that players could perform without having to do so much thinking.
The new man in charge has considerable experience making the best of a bad situation. Skipper guided Fresno State to a victory over New Mexico State in the 2023 New Mexico Bowl while filling in for sidelined coach Jeff Tedford, and then helped the Bulldogs reach the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl last season after Tedford had to step down because of ongoing health problems.
But Skipper has never stared down a schedule such as the one he faces, with games against Penn State, Ohio State and Indiana just part of a punishing Big Ten slate that starts with a road game against Northwestern on Saturday.
A win over the Wildcats could do far more than reengage fans; it could also prevent a rash of players from using their available redshirt and sitting out the rest of the season. Sticking around to play out the season at 0-4 might feel far less enticing than preserving additional eligibility. Players will need to decide soon because they cannot play in five games and redshirt.
For all his admirable traits, the 47-year-old Skipper is probably not a serious candidate to land the permanent job unless the Bruins go unbeaten the rest of the way. But he’s already shown a willingness to embrace these difficult circumstances, a strong showing undoubtedly putting him in the running for a head coaching job somewhere.
“There’s still nine games left,” Skipper said. “You know, there’s a lot to be motivated about.”
Recruiting fallout
Six high school players backed out of their nonbinding verbal commitments to UCLA in the wake of Foster’s dismissal, including four-star offensive tackle Johnnie Jones.
That left 16 players committed to the Bruins as part of a 2026 high school class that dropped to No. 52 nationally in the 247Sports.com rankings.
What will be the recruiting approach of a staff that might need to seek new jobs as soon as the season ends?
“We have a whole recruiting staff and this is where they’re going to make their money,” Skipper said. “So, they’re in communication with those guys, and they know this is a great place to be. It’s a tradition-rich university, so we’re just gonna keep on sending the message. But ultimately, when everybody turns on the TV and our style of play looks the way that everybody wants it to look, they’ll want to be here.”
In the good news department, teams can restock rosters quickly because of the transfer portal and the tendency of coaches to bring a good chunk of their old team with them to their new destinations. The elimination of the spring transfer portal window will place increased significance on the 10-day window that starts Jan. 2, 2026.
Heard on campus
On the same day that UCLA fired Foster, a group of about 100 former Bruins players representing multiple eras met with athletic director Martin Jarmond via Zoom.
The point of the meeting wasn’t to weigh in on the coaching change or to make suggestions for Foster’s replacement — it was to vent.
According to two people on the call who spoke with The Times on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private, the players talked about getting back to the days when football mattered at the school.
There was also sentiment expressed about feeling shut off from the program, largely as a result of practices established under former coach Chip Kelly. One former player said it was difficult to get a field pass for games and asked how can players give back to a program that makes it hard to be around? The same player noted that at USC, it’s easy for alumni to go back and feel like part of the program.
Another former player who said he was around the program almost daily last season said he would suggest transfer prospects who wanted to come home to Southern California and could be impact players but received no follow-through. Some of those players went on to start at Alabama, Utah and USC.
Jarmond told the former players he appreciated the feedback and provided his email address. Former player James Washington, who helped organize the meeting, said there would be future meetings to keep the discussion going.
Among those on the Zoom — first reported by the website Last Word on College Football — were Cade McNown, Troy Aikman, Donnie Edwards, Dennis Keyes, Bruce Davis II, Datone Jones, Audie Attar, Matt Stevens, Joe Cowan and Ben Olson.
Olympic sport spotlight: Men’s soccer
Maybe UCLA football can follow the model of this team.
After a winless start to the season, the Bruins men’s soccer team defeated Northwestern in its Big Ten opener and is now 2-0 in conference play after a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin on Friday.
Forward Sergi Solans Ormo, who scored the only goal during UCLA’s 1-0 triumph over Northwestern, gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead with a shot into the bottom right of the goal in the second half against Wisconsin. Forward Francis Bonsu added an insurance goal about eight minutes later.
Once saddled with an 0-3-2 record, UCLA (2-3-2 overall, 2-0 Big Ten) has some significant momentum going into another conference game on the road Friday against Indiana.
Opinion time
Who would you rather have as UCLA’s next football coach?
An exciting lower-level coach such as Tulane’s Jon Sumrall?
A rising star such as Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein?
An existing Power Four coach such as Arizona’s Jedd Fisch?
Do you have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future UCLA newsletter? Email me at [email protected], and follow me on X @latbbolch. To order an autographed copy of my book, “100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die,” send me an email. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
Announcement comes nearly a week after the late-night host was controversially suspended for remarks about Charlie Kirk.
Published On 22 Sep 202522 Sep 2025
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US entertainment company Disney has announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live will return to the air, six days after it suspended the talk-show host following threats by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman over comments the host had made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer.
In announcing the decision on Monday, ABC’s parent company said the show will return to the air on Tuesday and that it had suspended production of the late-night comedy show “to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country”.
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Kimmel’s show was taken off the air on September 17, after he joked about the political reaction to the killing of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
The decision by US network ABC to pull the show led to widespread criticism, as well as boycotts against Disney and its streaming services.
In a statement issued on Monday, the ABC said it had “spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday”.
Disney CEO Bob Iger, Disney Entertainment co-chair Dana Walden and Kimmel were in talks over the weekend and reached a decision on Monday to return Kimmel to the air, according to two people familiar with the matter, the Reuters news agency reported.
The decision was guided by what was in the entertainment company’s best interest, rather than external pressure from station owners or the FCC, the sources said.
Kimmel is expected to address the issue when his show returns on Tuesday, according to the sources.
A spokeswoman for Kimmel could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters.
Trump, who has repeatedly pressured broadcasters to stop airing content that he has found objectionable, had celebrated the news of Kimmel’s suspension and referred to it erroneously as an outright cancellation of the show.
Kimmel, who has frequently targeted Trump in his show, drew fire for remarks he made last Monday about the September 10 assassination of Kirk, who was shot down while addressing a crowd of 3,000 people on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem.
Kirk, a 31-year-old conservative political activist and podcast host, had been credited for building support for Trump and the Republican Party among young voters in 2024.
Tyler Robinson, a 22-year-old technical school student from Utah, has been charged with Kirk’s murder, but the precise motive for the killing remains unclear.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has used his office and the courts to attack unflattering speech about him that he has called defamatory or false. Throughout both his terms, Trump has threatened to rescind licences for local broadcast affiliates of national networks. Licences are approved by the FCC, a nominally independent regulatory body.
Disney’s move signals the first big push back against the Trump administration by big media.
The ABC suspended Kimmel’s show on Wednesday after Carr threatened investigations and regulatory action against licensed broadcasters who aired Kimmel.
The owners of dozens of local television stations affiliated with the ABC said they would no longer carry the show, including Nexstar, which needs FCC approval for a $6.2bn merger with Tegna.
On Friday, Senate Commerce Committee Chair Ted Cruz, a Republican, said that Carr’s threat was dangerous.
