Is Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Getting Axed? Fans Point to the Biggest Red Flag Yet
Cancellation jitters are gripping fans of the celebrity edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. With host Jimmy Kimmel at the center of controversy and his late-night show suspended indefinitely as of September 17, 2025, the franchise’s future suddenly looks shaky.
If you saw Jimmy Kimmel Live! get benched this week and started wondering if ABC is also going to sideline Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, you are not alone. Short answer: no — at least not right now.
So, is Millionaire getting pulled?
As of today, there is zero official word from ABC about canceling or yanking Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Jimmy Kimmel has hosted this celebrity edition since it launched in 2020, and the current fourth season is still rolling toward its finale on September 25, 2025. People close to the network say the season is expected to finish as planned. The logic is simple: it is a primetime show, and ABC usually lets those wrap their runs, even when the host is in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
"ABC source says 'no plans' to pull Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel. At least not until @BrendanCarrFCC sees this tweet and asks that it be pulled."
That was Puck reporter Matthew Belloni on X on September 17, doubling down on the 'no plans' line — and yes, that FCC tag is a very inside-baseball wink.
Why everyone started panicking
Timeline, because it got messy fast: on September 15, 2025, Kimmel made on-air comments about the shooting of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Two days later, on September 17, ABC put Jimmy Kimmel Live! on indefinite suspension just hours before it was set to tape. Cue the backlash. Fans and protesters have been gathering outside Disney headquarters (Disney owns ABC), calling the move censorship and a hit on free speech. Meanwhile, some big names — including Pedro Pascal and Barack Obama — have publicly backed Kimmel.
Important clarification: Kimmel has not been fired by ABC. His late-night show is in limbo; the game show is not.
Where things stand (and what to expect)
- Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: no official cancellation, no announced suspension.
- Season status: season 4 is underway, with the finale scheduled for September 25, 2025, and expected to air as planned.
- Kimmel and ABC: he remains employed; Jimmy Kimmel Live! is paused indefinitely.
- Public reaction: protests outside Disney HQ and vocal support from celebrities like Pedro Pascal and Barack Obama.
- The inside-baseball piece: an ABC source told Puck's Matthew Belloni there are 'no plans' to pull Millionaire — he posted that on September 17.
Bottom line
Despite the late-night chaos, Millionaire is still in play and headed for its September 25 finale. Past that, ABC has not tipped its hand. If anything changes, it is not coming from an official memo yet — just a lot of noise, some protests, and one very loaded tweet.