Jimmy Kimmel became audibly choked up and emotional as he returned to air Tuesday night, assuring his audience that it was “never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”
The late-night talk-show host, who was suspended “indefinitely” last week after making comments about the death of MAGA commentator Charlie Kirk, was greeted by two lengthy standing ovations as he kicked off his show, and thanked his fans, friends and even others on the other side of the political aisle for their support.
“If you like me, you like me. If you don’t, you don’t. I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind,” he said, appearing to break down as he added: “But I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”
During an episode of his show on Monday, September 15, Kimmel accused Republicans of using Kirk’s death to score political points. He also joked that President Trump was grieving the conservative activist’s murder “the way a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”
The remarks sparked outrage from the right, with members of the Trump administration, including the president himself, calling for his firing and the cancellation of his show Jimmy Kimmel Live!
In Tuesday’s monologue, Kimmel clarified that he had sent love to Kirk’s family via social media and asked for compassion. “I meant it. I still do,” he said. “I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone.”
He later hailed a “beautiful moment” that had taken place at Kirk’s funeral in Arizona, on Sunday. “I don’t know if you saw this on Sunday Erica Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. She forgave him,” he said.
Becoming slightly choked up again he added: “That is an example we should follow in the teachings of Jesus, as I do. That selfless act of grace and forgiveness from a grieving widow touched me deeply.”
Ahead of the show airing on Tuesday evening, President Donald Trump threatened to “test ABC” after the broadcaster allowed Kimmel to return. “I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” Trump fumed on Truth Social. “The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!”
Contrary to the president’s claim, Jimmy Kimmel Live! was never officially cancelled by ABC or Disney executives.
“Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE,” Trump wrote in his post. “He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this.”
In an extra threat, Trump added: “Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.”
ABC previously settled with the president in December, paying $15m towards Trump’s presidential library to settle a defamation lawsuit. The network also paid $1m in legal fees to the law firm of Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito.
The suit centered around anchor George Stephanopoulos’s inaccurate on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. While Trump denied all wrongdoing in the case, a jury found that Trump had defamed Carroll and was liable for battery.
As part of the settlement, ABC News posted an editor’s note to its website expressing regret over Stephanopoulos’s statements during a March 10 segment on his This Week program.
Kimmel highlighted his appreciation for the “freedom to speak” by coming back to his show Tuesday, admitting it was “something I’m embarrassed to say I took for granted until they pulled my friend Stephen off the air.” The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was axed by CBS earlier this year.
“If we don’t have free speech, then we just don’t have a free country. It’s as simple as that,” Kimmel said. “If this most fundamental right is allowed to perish, then the rest of our rights and liberties will topple, just like dominoes, one by one, they’ll go down.”
Last week, Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to “directly mislead the American public” with his remarks about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man charged with Kirk’s killing, and his motives. Those motives remain unclear.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said before ABC announced the suspension. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
In a skit starring Hollywood legend Robert De Niro, Kimmel poked fun at Carr Tuesday, accusing the FCC boss of “using mob tactics to suppress free speech.”
Despite Kimmel’s return to air, the late-night talk show will remain unavailable on some local networks after Nexstar Media and Sinclair Inc. announced they would continue to boycott the show.
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming,” the company shared on social media. Nexstar did the same.
Kimmel prompted further laughs from his audience by apologizing to members of his family living in states that were unable to watch the show due to the boycott.
