FCC chairman explains his “easy way or the hard way” comment against ABC before Jimmy Kimmel’s return

Jimmy Kimmel will return to Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday, six days after ABC paused the show in response to his remarks about Charlie Kirk’s killing. Brendan Carr, who leads the FCC, is now clarifying his role. He says his “easy way or the hard way” comment was not a licensing threat and that government pressure did not drive the network’s move.

In his latest explanation, Carr describes the “hard way” as the path where a news-distortion complaint gets filed and the regulator must process it. The network’s pause, ABC says, was about cooling tensions. The return follows several days of discussions with the host.

Carr first used the “easy way or the hard way” phrasing on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, during an appearance on Benny Johnson’s podcast. He then clarified the remark on Monday, September 22, 2025, onstage at the Concordia Annual Summit in New York City. For viewers, that means Jimmy Kimmel is back on the national feed, though some affiliates that preempted the show may take longer to restore it. The broader fight over speech and standards will continue, but for now, Jimmy Kimmel returns to late-night while the policy debate plays out off-stage.

What did FCC Chair Brendan Carr mean by “the easy way or the hard way”?

Jimmy Kimmel returns to Jimmy Kimmel Live while the FCC debate keeps burning in the background. The FCC’s Brendan Carr now says his “easy way or the hard way” line was not a threat to pull ABC station licenses. He frames it as a call for broadcasters to handle complaints internally, with the “hard way” being a formal process where someone files a news-distortion complaint that the FCC must adjudicate.

Carr said Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension was a network business call rather than the result of government pressure.

The bottom line for readers: Jimmy Kimmel is back on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and the FCC chair is walking back how far his earlier words were meant to go. As per a Reuters report dated September 22, 2025, Brendan Carr stated,

“Jimmy Kimmel is in the situation that he is in because of his ratings, not because of anything that’s happened at the federal government level.”

Brendan Carr remarked in the summit, clarifying his comment,

“If they don't, there's a way that's not as easy - which is someone can file a complaint at the FCC, and then the FCC ... has to adjudicate that complaint,”

Timeline: From Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue to ABC’s pause to the reinstatement

After his monologue about Charlie Kirk’s killing, Jimmy Kimmel faced swift blowback. Affiliates began to pull Jimmy Kimmel Live, and ABC paused the show “indefinitely” mid-week. Six days later, the company reversed course.

The official reason for the pause and return centred on lowering tensions and “thoughtful conversations” with the host. Jimmy Kimmel now resumes on Tuesday, with the national feed active but some local variability expected. As per the ABC News report dated September 23, 2025, Disney said,

“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,"

Disney further stated,

"We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

What changes for viewers now that Jimmy Kimmel Live is back, and what about affiliates?

For most markets, Jimmy Kimmel will appear in the usual Jimmy Kimmel Live slot on ABC. Some affiliates moved earlier to preempt the program and may not flip back immediately. That means a small subset of viewers could still see alternate programming while station-group talks continue.

Jimmy Kimmel remains on the network feed. Local carriage depends on each station’s decision. As per Nexstar's press release dated September 17, 2025, the group said it would “preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ for the foreseeable future beginning with tonight’s show.”

Stay tuned for more updates.