Jimmy Kimmel Live is back. Last week, ABC and Disney abruptly suspended the long-running late-night series, citing an “ill-timed and thus insensitive” monologue in which the comedian criticized right-wingers for trying to “score political points” off the murder of Charlie Kirk. Jimmy Kimmel kept quiet in the days that followed, which Hollywood raised its voice on his behalf. Now that the show has been reinstated, he’s ready to talk.
The late-night host was welcomed back by a roar of applause from the audience as they chanted, “Jimmy! Jimmy!” Kimmel began by showing his gratitude for his supporters across the country and fellow comedians including Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, Conan O’Brien, James Corden, Jay Leno, Howard Stern, and David Letterman.
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“Maybe most of all, I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe, but support my right to share those beliefs anyway,” he continued. “People I never would have imagined,
like Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul. Even my old pal Ted Cruz, who, believe it or not, said something very beautiful on my behalf.”
He added, “Even though I don’t agree with many of those people on most subjects, some of the things they say even make me want to throw up, it takes courage for them to speak out against this administration, and they did and they deserve credit for it.”
Kimmel then addressed his previous remarks on his show about Kirk’s murder. He became emotional, his voice breaking, as he said, “It was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man.”
“I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. I posted a message on Instagram on the day he was killed, sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it. And I still do,” he continued. “Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions — it was a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but to some, that felt ill-timed or unclear or maybe both, and for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I would have felt the same way. I have many friends and family members on the other side who I love and remain close to, even though we don’t agree on politics at all. I don’t think the murderer who shot Charlie Kirk represents anyone, this was a sick person who believed violence was a solution, and it isn’t.”
Later in his monologue, he also criticized the Trump administration’s attempts to pull him from the air. “I barely paid attention in school, but one thing I did learn from Lenny, Bruce, and George Carlin and Howard Stern is that a government threat to silence a comedian the President doesn’t like is anti-American. That’s anti-solidarity,” he said. “On that from the left and from those in the middle, like Joe Rogan, maybe the silver lining from this is we found one thing we can agree on, and maybe we’ll even find another one. Maybe we can get a little bit closer together.”
Glen Powell appeared as the latest guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live with musical guest Sarah McLachlan. This week will also feature Ethan Hawke, Lisa Ann Walter, and Yungblud on Wednesday. Peyton Manning, Oscar Nuñez, and Alex G will appear on Thursday.
The monologue is the first time Kimmel has directly addressed being pulled from the air; but in the hours before the broadcast, he shared a photo of himself with Norman Lear. “Missing this guy today,” he captioned the Instagram post. A champion of First Amendment rights, Lear was a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the FCC by the Writers Guild of America, West, in 1976.
“I remember instances … where we went to the wall over things where I was handed a piece of paper that I couldn’t do a show, if I did make a show it would not be paid for, it would not air,” the All in the Family creator testified. “I made the show because I believed in it . . . and then had to wait the weeks to find out if the show would ever be aired, would they ever pay for it, what was going to happen.”
With Jimmy Kimmel Live, FCC chairman Brendan Carr claimed that Kimmel was attempting to push the narrative that Kirk’s shooter “was somehow a MAGA or Republican-motivated person,” again calling it “sick.” In his exact comments, Kimmel said, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
Carr’s contributions to the fragmented framing of the monologue allowed the pressure campaign from the Trump administration, as well as conservatives in the media, to take deeper root.
Not all viewers who are used to flipping the channel to watch Jimmy Kimmel Live at night are getting the chance to watch the comeback episode. Following Walt Disney Co.’s announcement of their formal decision to bring the show back, media companies Sinclair and Nexstar announced that they would continue to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live.
In a statement, Nexstar said the series “will be available nationwide on multiple Disney-owned streaming products, while our stations will focus on continuing to produce local news and other programming relevant to their respective markets.”
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