By a greater than two-to-one margin, Individuals approve (58%) quite than disapprove (25%) of the choice by ABC and its dad or mum firm, Disney, to finish Jimmy Kimmel’s latest suspension and let him return to TV, based on a brand new Yahoo/YouGov ballot.
Earlier this month, ABC introduced that it was pulling Kimmel’s late-night discuss present, Jimmy Kimmel Dwell!, off the air “indefinitely” after Brendan Carr, the Federal Communications Fee chair, criticized feedback Kimmel made in regards to the motives of the person accused of killing conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Carr additionally recommended the FCC may transfer to revoke ABC affiliate licenses as a approach of forcing Disney to punish Kimmel. “We will do that the straightforward approach or the arduous approach,” Carr mentioned.
President Trump went additional, suggesting that “networks” and “night exhibits” that “give me solely unhealthy publicity” ought to “possibly” have their licenses “taken away.”
The Trump administration’s threats of regulatory motion sparked widespread criticism from free-speech advocates, culminating in a celebrity-led boycott of Disney programming and merchandise. ABC introduced Kimmel’s return lower than per week later.
The brand new Yahoo/YouGov survey of 1,676 U.S. adults was performed instantly after Kimmel’s Sept. 23 comeback present. It discovered that whereas Individuals are divided over whether or not they approve (38%) or disapprove (40%) of Kimmel’s preliminary remarks, they largely disapprove of how ABC/Disney — and, to an excellent better diploma, the Trump administration — reacted to them.
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Simply 31% of Individuals approve of ABC/Disney’s determination to droop Kimmel within the first place; a majority (54%) say they disapprove.
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Solely 22% of Individuals approve of the “federal authorities threatening regulatory motion in opposition to media corporations for feedback like Kimmel’s,” as Carr did earlier this month. Greater than six in 10 (61%) disapprove.
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And even fewer Individuals (16%) would approve of “the president pursuing regulatory motion in opposition to media corporations as a result of they’re vital of him,” as Trump recommended he may. Greater than two-thirds (67%) would disapprove.
Digging deeper into the information, a transparent partisan sample emerges. Contemplate Kimmel’s preliminary suspension: Democrats disapprove (90%) way over Republicans approve (62%), whereas a majority of independents disapprove (57%) quite than approve (24%). Likewise, the share of Democrats (92%) and even independents (63%) who approve of ABC/Disney’s determination to convey Kimmel again is considerably better than the share of Republicans who disapprove of that call (53%).
In different phrases, the backlash to Kimmel’s feedback on the correct isn’t robust sufficient to outweigh the backlash to his suspension on the left and within the center.
When requested which occasion is “a much bigger menace to free speech,” extra Individuals say Republicans (40%) than Democrats (28%). (One other 22% say the events are “about the identical.”) Amongst independents, the hole between Republicans (44%) and Democrats (18%) is even greater.
Extra Individuals see Kimmel favorably than unfavorably
After CBS introduced in July that it could be cancelling its long-running late-night program with host Stephen Colbert, Yahoo and YouGov requested a sequence of comparable questions on politics, speech and TV.
However whereas Colbert’s cancellation was not standard — 33% accredited; 40% disapproved — response to the latest Kimmel controversy has been way more lopsided in his favor.
General, extra Individuals see Kimmel favorably (46%) than unfavorably (39%). (Trump’s present score is 43% favorable, 54% unfavorable.) Predictably, Kimmel’s numbers are overwhelmingly constructive amongst those that say he’s their favourite late-night host (92% favorable, 6% unfavorable). However he additionally has a constructive picture amongst those that title different late-night hosts as their favorites (56% favorable, 31% unfavorable).
In truth, Individuals who say they do not watch late-night tv are the one group that provides Kimmel a web unfavourable score (19% favorable, 58% unfavorable). In addition they lean or determine as Republican quite than Democrat by a 58% to 19% margin.
When Individuals had been requested in July to pick out as much as three of their favourite late-night discuss present hosts, Colbert (25%) tied Jimmy Fallon (25%) for first place, with Kimmel trailing at 22%. However now Kimmel (22%) leads Colbert (21%) and Fallon (20%) by a slim margin.
Why the shift? A considerably bigger variety of Democrats now title Kimmel as considered one of their three favourite late-night hosts: 44% right this moment versus 35% in July. On the identical time, Colbert and Fallon have misplaced some floor amongst Democrats. And whereas fewer Republicans nonetheless decide Kimmel as a favourite — 7%, down from 13% — it’s not sufficient to offset his features on the opposite aspect of the aisle.
Kimmel is extensively considered as liberal (57%) quite than reasonable (14%) or conservative (4%). However extra Individuals (40%) say he’s “about proper” in his method to politics than say he is “too political” (35%). Extra Individuals additionally proceed to favor (45%) quite than oppose (33%) “late-night discuss present hosts getting concerned in politics by talking out on political points.”
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The Yahoo survey was performed by YouGov utilizing a nationally consultant pattern of 1,676 U.S. adults interviewed on-line from Sept. 25 to Sept. 29, 2025. The pattern was weighted based on gender, age, race, training, 2024 election turnout and presidential vote, occasion identification and present voter registration standing. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Neighborhood Survey. Social gathering identification is weighted to the estimated distribution on the time of the election (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). Respondents had been chosen from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be consultant of all U.S. adults. The margin of error is roughly 3%.