New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani said Monday evening he’s willing to appear at a town hall hosted by a local ABC station now that the national network says it will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show.
Earlier in the day, Mamdani announced he was pulling out of the event following ABC’s decision to suspend the late-night host.
“Last week, Disney/ABC caved to Trump administration pressure. Millions of Americans helped them find their backbone. Whether you watch Jimmy Kimmel or not, today’s decision is a victory for free speech,” the Democrat wrote on X.
“We’ve reached out to WABC to reschedule the town hall,” he added.
Earlier in the day, Mamdani said he canceled his appearance at the town hall after ABC pulled Kimmel’s show off the air due to backlash over the host’s comments about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I am withdrawing not as an indictment of the local affiliate or the hardworking journalists, but rather in response to the corporate leaders who have put their bottom line ahead of their responsibility in upholding the freedom of the press,“ Mamdani said in a statement.
Mamdani, the Democratic nominee, said he had been scheduled to attend a town hall this week organized by WABC-TV, a local affiliate of ABC, but would not go to the event. The 33-year-old candidate is facing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa in the city’s November election.
Later Monday, ABC said it was lifting Kimmel’s suspension and that he would return to his show on Tuesday, releasing a statement that said the network had “spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy.”
ABC had suspended Kimmel last week after broadcasters Nexstar and Sinclair said they wouldn’t air “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr threatened repercussions if Kimmel was not punished. Republican President Donald Trump, who has called Kirk a “great American hero,” applauded the move.
On his show, Kimmel had made various comments about the reaction to Kirk’s killing, including that “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk.” Kimmel has not made a public statement following his suspension.
Kimmel’s suspension prompted debate about free speech and government censorship. More than 430 people in the entertainment business added their names to an open letter Monday from the American Civil Liberties Union that calls the move “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”
In his original statement, Mamdani said the suspension sent “a message that the First Amendment is no longer a right that can be counted on, but rather that it is the government which will determine what should and should not be discussed, what can and cannot be spoken.”