Media companies thought late night TV was irrelevant. Kimmel proved them wrong

toggle caption Scott Kowalchyk/CBS

When Jimmy Kimmel returned to his late-night show on ABC after a near-weeklong suspension, some cheered it as a triumph of free speech over the oppressive reach of government censorship. But I saw something a little different.

I saw bold proof that, despite all the talk about late-night TV losing its relevance, there sure seemed to be a lot of people who still cared about what hosts like Kimmel had to say.

That feeling deepened after watching Kimmel hang with his fellow late night hosts in New York during a long-planned week in Brooklyn.

From the moment when Kimmel visited Stephen Colbert's Late Show to tell him he thought "I'm never coming back on air" after ABC's parent company Disney sidelined him to Kimmel, Colbert and Seth Meyers trolling President Trump with a photo at Jimmy Kimmel Live!, there seemed to be an energized spirit in these hosts joining forces to remind fans why the genre is so special.

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Honchos at Disney learned this surprising truth the hard way after they moved to suspend Kimmel last month for sardonic comments he made about supporters of Trump's MAGA movement trying to capitalize politically on the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Given that the suspension decision came after the head of the Federal Communications Commission threatened Disney, ABC and its affiliates, it sure looked like Kimmel was about to join CBS host Stephen Colbert as another Trump critic on late-night TV who would soon lose his job.

And then something amazing happened. People pushed back.

toggle caption Randy Holmes/Disney

The American Civil Liberties Union published a petition of protest with signatures from more than 400 artists, including names like Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Hasan Minhaj and Amber Ruffin. People began canceling their subscriptions to Disney-owned streaming services like Hulu and Disney+, urged on by celebrities like John Oliver and Howard Stern. Republican senator Ted Cruz called FCC chair Brendan Carr's threats "dangerous," and podcaster Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump ahead of the 2024 election, warned against government pressure on comedians.