Viewers of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” on Thursday night were taken aback to find that actor David Duchovny, “Stranger Things” star Joe Keery, and pop artist Madison Beer were featured on a rerun instead of a fresh episode.
Madison Beer took to Instagram to break the news, saying her performance had been postponed.
She stated, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, @jimmykimmellive had to reschedule my performance, originally slated to air tonight, to a later date,” in a post shared around 7 p.m. ET.
Neither Duchovny nor Keery commented on the program change.
Interestingly, there are hints that the October 28 episode will be re-broadcast in a different format, according to reports.
The show’s social media accounts were silent about any schedule changes, and ABC did not respond to inquiries.
An entertainment site mentioned a delay due to a “personal issue,” although specifics were not provided.
A Reddit user shared an email indicating that the audience office stated, “Tonight’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live has been postponed. We apologize for the inconvenience and will be in touch about rescheduling future tapings.”
This unexpected rerun marked the first change in programming since Kimmel’s brief suspension in September. As of Friday morning, ABC had not clarified when new episodes would resume.
Kimmel has not publicly addressed why a new live show was not aired on Thursday.
Both ABC and its parent company, Disney, are still managing the aftermath of earlier controversies surrounding the late-night show.
Back in September, Kimmel faced backlash for comments he made regarding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which many found inappropriate.
During a monologue on September 15, he suggested that Kirk’s killer was linked to a “MAGA gang,” a statement he later described as “badly timed or unclear.”
Following this incident, the show was taken off air for almost a week before Kimmel returned, insisting he hadn’t meant to downplay the seriousness of the situation.
The station aimed to “avoid further aggravating the tense situation,” yet various affiliated companies and advertisers reacted strongly, with some opting out of airing the program.
This controversy led to several weeks of strained interactions among Disney executives, the production crew, and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” The show has since struggled with its ratings and advertising revenue.
Kimmel’s return followed discussions with Bob Iger, Disney’s CEO, and Dana Walden, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, but details of the agreements remain undisclosed.
Michael Eisner, a former Disney president, criticized the company, claiming they yielded to “out-of-control intimidation” from federal regulators over the fallout from the incident.
