NEED TO KNOW
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos have thoughts on the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Kimmel was back on the air on Tuesday, Sept. 23, nearly a week after being indefinitely pulled from ABC
After Kimmel’s first show back, the Live with Kelly and Mark hosts called his monologue “very responsible”
In a rarity for the couple, Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos are addressing politics while reacting to Jimmy Kimmel‘s first monologue back after being temporarily pulled by Disney’s ABC.
The late-night program, which was initially suspended following Kimmel’s comments about the fatal shooting of right-wing personality Charlie Kirk and sparked national attention toward the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and its chair Brendan Carr, marked its first show back on air on Tuesday, Sept. 23, following the ordeal. Its host kicked things off with a tearful monologue, during which he touched on the show’s brief suspension, President Donald Trump‘s response and the support he’s seen from across political parties since.
Now, during the Wednesday, Sept. 24 episode of Live with Kelly and Mark, Ripa and Consuelos, both 54, opened up about the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live! the night before and revealed what they thought about Kimmel’s message.
“Jimmy Kimmel returned to his show last night. And you know, listen — we know him personally and when I tell you he’s one of the kindest, most generous people that I know. Cares about his family, takes care of his crew, his staff, everybody. He really, really cares. Kelly: He cares about people,” Consuelos said, as Ripa added that Kimmel “cares about people.”
“And his statements last night, I think, were on point. He understands both sides, he was very humble in his speech,” Consuelos said.
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Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’ on Wednesday, Sept. 24
Both hosts then agreed that Kimmel’s monologue was “very responsible.”
“One thing we can all agree on as a country is that the First Amendment is very important,” Consuelos said. “We do a light show here. We don’t talk about any politics here, we just don’t do it. We know that our fans at home want an escape from all of that, and we agree — we want an escape from all of that!”
“But I think it’s important, too, that we all are free” he added. “Because you never know — we can say something crazy and tomorrow we’re gone.”
After Ripa added that she says “crazy things all the time here,” her husband revealed that it is “not lost” on them that they are “sitting her in the Disney building, our home here.” Still, he added, it was “the right thing to do, for the company, to bring him back.”
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“And I have to tell you, and we can all agree here, even though we are a light, frothy… we are non-controversial. We are non-controversial,” Ripa said. “We are like melted ice cream. But even we are constantly in a position where we are checking what we’re about to say in our heads because we’ve come to this inflection point where no matter what you say, somebody is upset.”
“And I think everybody needs to take a step back and really think. I have a right to speak and you have a right to say horrible things about me on Instagram,” she added. “That’s the pleasure about living in a free society. That is important.”
Consuelos concluded, noting that he has “plenty of friends on both sides” — even some he disagrees with politically — as Ripa let viewers know that “everybody’s welcome at our table.”
During Kimmel’s monologue on Tuesday, he broke his silence on the brief suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live! while getting a standing ovation from a packed studio audience. He thanked those who “supported our show, cared enough to do something about it, to make your voices heard so that mine will be heard. I will never forget it.” He specifically shared his appreciation for conservatives, including Ted Cruz, who he said supported his “right to share” his beliefs.
“I never imagined I’d be in a situation like this — I barely paid attention in school. But one thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern is a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn’t like is anti-American,” Kimmel said.
One day before Kimmel’s return show, the Walt Disney Company announced the show would come back following “thoughtful conversations with Jimmy.” Still, Sinclair and Nexstar both revealed they would continue preempting the show in their local markets.
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Before the suspension, Nexstar announced plans to acquire Tegna, a rival broadcast company, for more than $6 billion. The deal would consolidate the local television landscape and put Nexstar in 80% of America’s TV-owning households — with the acquisition requiring final approval from the Trump-controlled and Carr-run FCC. ABC initially announced that the Kimmel would be on indefinite hiatus beginning on Wednesday, Sept. 17, as Carr praised the decision.
The Kimmel controversy began when the comedian addressed the shooting death of Kirk in his Sept. 15 monologue, when he said that “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.”
“In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving,” he said, before showing a clip of Trump being asked by a reporter how he was doing amid Kirk’s death. In response, Trump said “very good” before changing the subject to the construction of the new ballroom at the White House.
“Yes, he’s at the fourth stage of grief: construction,” Kimmel joked.
Directly after Kirk’s death, Kimmel addressed the “horrible and monstrous” killing of Kirk — who was shot and killed during a speaking event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” he wrote at the time. “On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”
Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
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