Jimmy Kimmel made his return to late-night TV after being suspended over comments about the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
ABC announced that the late-night show would return Tuesday night, Sept. 23, and the host touched on numerous topics in his return, including censorship, President Donald Trump, Kirk’s death and more.
“This show is not important,” Kimmel said at one point. “What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
The reversal of Kimmel’s suspension followed backlash in Hollywood and among the public that led to a growing boycott campaign against Disney.
“Last Wednesday (Sept. 17), 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 said in a Monday, Sept. 22, statement. “We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”
Kimmel kicked off his monologue commenting, “As I was saying before I was interrupted … If you’re just joining us, we are preempting a regularly scheduled encore episode of ‘Celebrity Family Feud’ to bring you this special report … I’m happy to be here tonight.” — an apparent homage to one-time “Tonight Show” host Jack Parr who quit the show in the 1960s before later coming back and opening his own return episode with the joke.
In the Sept. 23 episode, Kimmel stressed the importance of free speech and applauded Kirk’s wife, among other things. Here’s what to know.
Kimmel applauds Charlie Kirk’s widow
Kimmel applauded Kirk’s widow Erika Kirk for the speech she delivered at his Sept. 21 memorial in Arizona, where she said she forgave Tyler Robinson, who is accused of assassinating her husband.
“Erika Kirk forgave the man who shot her husband. She forgave him. That is an example we should follow. If you believe in the teachings of Jesus, as I do, there it was,” he said. “That’s it. A selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply. It touches many and if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy to carry forward, I hope it can be that and not this.”
Kimmel criticizes those who took show off air
To those who had a hand in “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” being suspended, Kimmel said: “That’s not legal. That’s not American. It’s unAmerican.”
The late-night TV show host thanked those who don’t like him or agree with his political views, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who said the FCC acted like “a mafioso” in suspending Kimmel’s show.
“It takes courage for them to speak out against this administration,” Kimmel said. “They did and they deserve credit for it.” He also named Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candace Owens, Sen. Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul as others who came to his defense.
What did Kimmel say that led to suspension?
“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,” Kimmel said during his Monday, Sept. 15 episode.
Robinson, 22, has since been charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering. His precise motive remains unclear.
In a Sept. 11 episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” the TV show host condemned people who celebrated the killing of Kirk, who died at a Utah college speaking event on Sept. 10 in what Gov. Spencer Cox called a “political assassination.”
Kimmel started his show by stating he has seen “extraordinarily vile responses from both sides of the political spectrum.”
Where was Jimmy Kimmel pulled from in Michigan?
Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show, which appears on ABC network stations, was pulled from all Sinclair, Nexstar, and ABC stations.
What did Sinclair say about Kimmel’s return?
“Beginning Tuesday night, Sinclair will be preempting Jimmy Kimmel Live! across our ABC affiliate stations and replacing it with news programming. Discussions with ABC are ongoing as we evaluate the show’s potential return,” Sinclair said on X.
What did Nexstar say about Kimmel’s return?
“We made a decision last week to preempt ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ following what ABC referred to as Mr. Kimmel’s ‘ill-timed and insensitive’ comments at a critical time in our national discourse. We stand by that decision pending assurance that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve. In the meantime, we note that ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ 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,” Nexstar said.
Which TV stations in Michigan carry Kimmel’s show?
Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show appears on ABC stations. Sinclair does not operate any ABC affiliates in Michigan. Nexstar operates ABC affiliate WOTV in Battle Creek.
Here’s a look at which ABC affiliate stations list the show as appearing.
WXYZ in Detroit shows Jimmy Kimmel in its program listing.
WZZM in Grand Rapids shows Jimmy Kimmel in its program listing.
WJRT in Flint shows Jimmy Kimmel in its program listing.
WGTU in Traverse City shows Jimmy Kimmel in its program listing.
WBUP in Ishpeming shows Jimmy Kimmel in its program listing.
WBKB in Alpena shows Jimmy Kimmel in its program listing.
WLAJ in Lansing shows Jimmy Kimmel in its program listing.
What did Trump say about Kimmel’s return?
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his ‘talent’ was never there.”
What are Kimmel’s ratings?
Trump has said repeatedly that Kimmel’s ratings are awful. Kimmel’s average audience by the end of August 2025 was 1,104,000 people per episode, according to USTVDB.
USA Today reporters Anthony Robledo and James Powel contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: What Jimmy Kimmel said in his return to late-night television
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