At least he has good taste in newspapers.
Jimmy Kimmel, who was suspended from his late-night show in September over his inflammatory comments about Charlie Kirk’s killer, is featured in next month’s Vanity Fair holding the very edition of The New York Post that trumpeted his on-air return.
The late-night host was photographed holding the Sept. 23 newspaper featuring his grinning face — and the headline, “What a joke!” — while sitting atop Los Angeles’ El Capitan Theatre where his show is filmed.
The Post’s front-page story exclusively reported that Kimmel would be back on ABC, though the country’s largest owner of its local affiliate stations wouldn’t air his show after he refused to apologize for his false suggestion that Kirk’s assassin was a pro-Trump Republican.
Sources told The Post that Kimmel negotiated his return to the airwaves directly with Disney CEO Bob Iger and his No. 2, Disney Entertainment Co-Chair Dana Walden, and that he was set to clarity his comments in his monologue but would not issue a mea culpa, as both he and his bosses “didn’t think he did anything wrong.”
Kimmel prominently features in a Vanity Fair article about Hollywood “at a crossroads.” The issue is set to hit newsstands Dec. 2.
The article, which is already available online, consists of a series of vignettes about Hollywood’s movers and shakers — including Paramount Skydance boss David Ellison, celebrity stylist Law Roach and Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Gustavo Dudamel.
In the piece, Kimmel revisits what Vanity Fair calls a “good news day” — namely, the day Disney-owned ABC put him back on the air after a brief hiatus.
“This September, in the face of censorship, Kimmel unwittingly became a beacon that united everyone from anti-fascists to Ted Cruz,” Vanity Fair wrote. “Soon there were calls to boycott Disney and protest an administration that would dare take away an American’s right to laugh — and to free speech. Perhaps as more rights come under attack, Americans will remember this moment of collective power.”
The longtime TV host was suspended from “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for six days over his tasteless commentary about Kirk’s killer.
Iger and Walden benched the late night star as they faced scrutiny from Federal Communications Chair Brendan Carr, President Trump and major affiliate stations Nexstar and Sinclair.
Meanwhile, Kimmel’s A-list friends like actor Ben Stiller, comedians Wanda Sykes and Marc Maron, rivals Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert — and even former President Obama — backed Kimmel publicly.
Over 1.7 million users also canceled their Disney+, Hulu and ESPN subscriptions following the suspension.
