How affiliate pressure and FCC rhetoric put Kimmel on ice

ABC has indefinitely suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! following pressure from Nexstar and Sinclair, which own affiliated stations across the country. The move comes after Kimmel’s recent monologue about the assassination of Charlie Kirk prompted FCC Chairman Brendan Carr to issue a warning to Disney regarding the late-night host’s presence on ABC. What’s next for Kimmel and how has the industry responded to the suspension? Kim Masters and Matt Belloni break down the unfolding story.

Plus, we revisit Masters’s conversation with recent Emmy-winner Matt Wolf, director of Pee-wee as Himself. The HBO documentary draws from more than 40 hours of interviews with the late actor Paul Reubens, and Wolf explains how his interest in overlooked artists and forgotten stories led to his portrait of the man behind Pee-wee Herman. He also talks about the actor’s struggle with his sexuality and reveals why HBO pushed for a two-part series to tell the late actor’s story.