Jimmy Kimmel’s Rankings Collapse: 85% of Key Viewers Vanish After Comeback Controversy
After Disney briefly suspended ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! last month following his remarks about the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk, which sparked widespread backlash, Jimmy Kimmel has now shed 71% of the audience that tuned in for his much-hyped return from suspension.
The decline among the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25–54 was even more significant. Jimmy Kimmel Live! managed just 265,000 viewers from this critical group on Thursday night — losing 85% of the 1.7 million who tuned in on September 23.
It marked Kimmel’s smallest audience among demo viewers since the suspension.
Fox News reported that Kimmel averaged 1.6 million viewers in 2025 before Disney decided to temporarily sideline him. Another drop would result in the show returning to its pre-scandal viewership.
ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! also trailed Fox News’ Gutfeld! across the board on Thursday.
Gutfeld! averaged 2.8 million total viewers, topping Kimmel by 49% overall and by 370,000 demo viewers — a 40% edge in that key category.
Kimmel found himself in hot water last month when he falsely suggested that Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old suspect in the Charlie Kirk assassination, was part of the “MAGA gang,” despite reports that he had a left-wing ideology — which was reaffirmed in the indictment filed the next day.
“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 told his audience.
The false suggestion that Robinson was a MAGA supporter sparked outrage and scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Disney decided to suspend the show after Nexstar and Sinclair pulled airings of Jimmy Kimmel Live! from their stations. Kimmel reportedly told executives that he would not apologize for his comments.
Kimmel’s brief benching caused outrage from the left, as hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside Disney’s location in Burbank, California, demanding that the company put Jimmy Kimmel Live! back on the air.
Protesters also gathered outside Kimmel’s studio on Hollywood Boulevard, where they were recorded chanting, “ABC bent the knee! No to the FCC!”
Disney’s suspension lasted less than a week. When Kimmel returned, he delivered a passionate monologue but stopped short of a full apology.
Once he addressed the situation, he quickly went back to bashing President Donald Trump and other conservatives on a nightly basis.
Kirk’s supporters panned Kimmel’s non-apology, saying the ABC host failed to take responsibility for spreading false claims.
“Kimmel is an unrepentant liar who tried to blame Charlie’s assassination on the part of the country that just spent the last 2 weeks praying and holding vigils,” Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet reacted.