Panic gripped the set of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday as staff admitted they had no idea what the host would say on his dramatic return to air - and threatened to walk out if he apologized.
An insider told the Daily Mail there was 'chaos' backstage, and said writers and producers were threatening to leave if he did not defend his controversial comments on Charlie Kirk's assassination.
The 57-year-old comedian's show was pulled for a week after his remarks sparked outrage and a warning from the FCC.
Disney bosses only confirmed his return late Monday, leaving his crew on edge.
And there are already concerns that the comeback could be a ratings disaster, with dozens of ABC affiliates refusing to air the show.
The source told the Daily Mail that Kimmel's team would feel betrayed if he bowed to pressure from studio executives and failed to come out swinging with his first on-air comments.
Executive producers have reportedly clamped down, ordering staff not to discuss what Kimmel might say in his monologue -- a speech expected to draw millions of viewers.
But the secrecy has left the team feeling sidelined.
The crew, the insider said, has agreed that Kimmel's comments on MAGA and Kirk's death were not egregious.
Now they feel they are being kept out of the writing of the monologue that will likely attract millions when it airs on Tuesday night.
'It's chaos,' the source told Daily Mail, five hours before Jimmy Kimmel Live! filming began.
'No one knows what Jimmy is going to say, but there are rumblings that if he apologizes, there will be a walkout.
'If he grovels or falls on his sword, that's actually a betrayal to all of us. It will feel like he doesn't have our back.
'I know that could save us our jobs, but that's not the point. We were all in agreement about the things he said; we all felt that they were appropriate, and if he walks them back, that would invalidate what we had all discussed.
'I understand that he's got to protect his career, but he can't do it at the expense of truth and what we all agreed on.
'There's also a feeling that we were in it together when we discussed what to say, when things were written for him, when we bounced things off each other.
'And now the decision is being made over our heads, with none of our input. We don't know what's going to happen, and that feels s.'
'Look, I understand if he had said that Charlie Kirk deserved to get shot in the neck, but he didn't.
'He didn't say any of that at all. And we all talked about how to be respectful while still saying what needed to be said.
'It's annoying because we tried so hard. So yeah, if Jimmy grovels, he undoes all that and we are all going to be p*ed.'
'The rumor is that he's going to apologize in some way, or at least express his regrets. And expressing regrets is the same as apologizing.
The source added that no one backstage knew what was going with hours before Kimmel was set to record his show.
'Everyone's talking,' the insider said, 'but trying not to talk, and there are some people, including our EP (executive producer), who don't want us to talk about it.'
Kimmel claimed on his show last Monday that 'the MAGA gang' was attempting to portray the suspect in Kirk's assassination 'as anything other than one of them'.
The comments sparked outrage, and a warning from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr that ABC and Disney could be punished.
Within hours, more than a dozen ABC affiliates told the network and Disney it would not be airing Kimmel's show until the remarks were addressed.
Disney and senior ABC execs then made the call to pull Kimmel's show 'indefinitely'.
On Monday, Disney announced that Jimmy Kimmel Live! will return on Tuesday night.
'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,' Disney's statement said.
Kimmel's comeback has already been jeopardized after 70 ABC affiliate stations said they would not be broadcasting Tuesday's show.
Nexstar said Tuesday morning it would not be screening Jimmy Kimmel Live! on the 32 ABC stations it owns, Variety reported, joining fellow broadcaster Sinclair who already announced their decision.
Sinclair's stations include KOMO in Seattle and KATU in Portland - two liberal enclaves whose locals are natural Kimmel viewers and likely vital to his success. The company owns a total 38 ABC affiliates.
That means close to a third of ABC's 230 local-level stations will not run the network's flagship late-night show, which was pulled off air last Wednesday.
Kimmel's show will also be drained of vital advertiser cash that would have been spent had his show been screened on the affiliates as usual.
An executive at a rival network told Daily Mail that Kimmel will likely apologize.
'If he were on our network,' the source said, 'we'd definitely want him to be somewhat conciliatory.'
'I'm not saying he has to beg for forgiveness, but talk about unity and togetherness and reiterate that we send condolences to Charlie Kirk's family.
'I assume that Disney and ABC are going to require that. It only makes sense.'