Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night comeback wouldn’t have been complete without a sketch riffing on the situation that got him pulled off the air.
The celebrity guest starring in that sketch about a threat-making boss at the Federal Communications Commission?
The sketch arrived after Kimmel, who returned to ABC Tuesday after several days of being “indefinitely” suspended, broke down the ways that President Donald Trump and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr had threatened his job and the jobs of his whole staff at “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
As part of the big monologue, Kimmel then said that Carr himself had agreed to talk to him from his office in Washington, D.C.
But an intimidating character played by De Niro showed up instead.
After a phone call in which the character made a threat against “The View” host Whoopi Goldberg, the Oscar-winning actor greeted Kimmel.
“You don’t need to know my name,” he said. “And I am the new chairman of the FCC.”
He would only say he used to work for Trump “here and there in Atlantic City.”
READ MORE: Jimmy Kimmel in big return to late-night: Trump can’t take a joke, tries to get everyone fired
“It seems like the FCC is using mob tactics to suppress free speech,” Kimmel said.
“What the f— did you just say to me?” De Niro’s new FCC chairman replied, deploying the actor’s famous scowl.
“You know we can’t curse or we’ll get fined by the FCC,” Kimmel said.
“I am the f—ing FCC,” the De Niro character replied. “I can f—ing say whatever the f— I want.”
“It sounds a little like threats and intimidation to me, chairman,” Kimmel replied.
“Stop that,” De Niro said. “Look, it’s just me, Jimmy, the chairman of the FCC, gently suggesting that you gently shut the f— up.”
JK
“But you can’t say that,” Kimmel said. “That’s a violation of free speech.”
“Oh yeah,” De Niro replied. “About that. Speech, it ain’t free no more … We’re charging by the word now.”
If you want to say something “nice” about “the president’s beautiful thick yellow hair, how he can do his makeup better than any broad,” that’s free, he explained.
“But if you wanna do a joke like ‘he’s so fat he needs two seats on the Epstein jet,’ that’s gonna cost you.”
Well, how much would it cost, Kimmel asked.
“Couple of fingers, maybe a tooth,” De Niro said.
With that, he presented the FCC’s new motto:
“Sticks and stones may break your bones.”
“But words can never harm you,” Kimmel suggested.
“Well, they can harm you now,” De Niro replied. “Just make sure you pick the right words. Capisce?”
But the very busy new FCC chairman soon had to go.
Trump, who he called “handsome” when he picked up the phone, had gotten in touch to let him know that some cases of Tylenol had fallen off a truck.
“Now I’ve gotta figure out how to put autism in ‘em,” De Niro said, echoing the assertion of Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. secretary of health and human services, that Tylenol causes autism. (The actor’s son has autism.)
“I’ll be watching you, Kimmel,” he said, issuing one last threat.
“Maybe not on ABC. That’s up to you.”
You can see the full exchange at the 20-minute mark in the video above.
ABC and its parent company, Disney, suspended Kimmel Sept. 17 for comments he made on the show about the Republican response to the political identity of Charlie Kirk’s suspected killer.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing anything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel had said.
Just before Kimmel was suspended, Carr, the chairman of the FCC criticized the late-night host and ABC in comments he made on a podcast with Benny Johnson.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”
The FCC boss’ comment has drawn comparisons to Mafia characters.
Carr’s statement surfaced in an environment in which Trump had already called for Kimmel to be fired.
Before ABC suspended the late-night host, Nexstar Media Group, which owns ABC affiliates across the country, said it would be dropping “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” because of Kimmel’s comments on the show.
Nexstar also wants to acquire Tegna, another company that owns TV stations, for $6.2 billion. That deal would require FCC approval.
People protested Kimmel’s ousting by canceling their Hulu and Disney+ subscriptions. Comedians, late-night hosts and celebrities spoke out against ABC and Disney’s decision.
Days later, Disney said Kimmel would be returning to ABC.
ABC affiliates owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group have also removed “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” from their programming.
During his first night back on ABC, Kimmel said that his show is still not available on ABC stations in 20% of the country.
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