<\/p>\n
Jimmy Kimmel is back on his late-night stage \u2014 and full of emotion.<\/p>\n
After a nearly week-long suspension, the ABC star taped a new episode on Tuesday evening, and he spoke at length about the controversy that enveloped the show, according to audience members who spoke with celebrity.land afterward.<\/p>\n
There were several minutes of applause when Kimmel walked out on stage. The eruption of support was so loud \u201cit was ear damaging to be honest,\u201d Kevin Winhard said.<\/p>\n
Then came Kimmel\u2019s monologue, the comedian\u2019s first public statement in nearly a week.<\/p>\n
Last Wednesday, in a head-spinning move, Kimmel was sidelined by ABC shortly after the Trump administration official responsible for licensing ABC\u2019s local stations, Brendan Carr, publicly pressured the company to punish the comedian.<\/p>\n
Winhard and other audience members described Kimmel as emotional and direct.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been to shows before, and honestly this one just felt different,\u201d Kathy Hopkins said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou could tell they were being very careful about where they went with it,\u201d Hopkins added.<\/p>\n
Kimmel did make some jokes, of course, but he also addressed the uproar over his Sept. 15 commentary about the suspect in the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.<\/p>\n
Kimmel specifically directed some remarks to Kirk\u2019s widow Erika, one of the audience members told celebrity.land.<\/p>\n
There was a conservative outcry last week after Kimmel asserted that the \u201cMAGA gang\u201d was \u201cdesperately trying\u201d to characterize the suspect \u201cas anything other than one of them.\u201d Kimmel also claimed that Trump loyalists were \u201cdoing everything they can to score political points\u201d from the assassination.<\/p>\n
After Kimmel\u2019s comments were publicized by right-wing websites and TV shows, Carr called it \u201cthe sickest conduct possible\u201d and suggested that the FCC could move to revoke ABC affiliate licenses.<\/p>\n
Carr has since downplayed his role in the Kimmel drama, casting it as a dispute between local station owners and the national network.<\/p>\n
But some of those local owners \u2014 like Nexstar, which is trying to merge with another big station group, Tegna \u2014 have pending business before the FCC, making them uniquely vulnerable to Carr\u2019s public pressure.<\/p>\n
Both Nexstar and Sinclair told ABC that they were going to preempt Kimmel\u2019s show last Wednesday, which contributed to the network\u2019s decision to yank the late-night show nationwide. Hollywood leaders were astonished; free speech groups were appalled; and the episode triggered a multi-day news cycle about free speech and corporate capitulation to political pressure.<\/p>\n
Widespread criticism of the Kimmel suspension even led people to cancel their Disney+ and Hulu subscriptions, although the bottom line impact of the grassroots boycott is unclear.<\/p>\n
Disney CEO Bob Iger and his leadership team sought to lower the proverbial temperature and get Kimmel back on the air, even as Trump celebrated what he wrongly called Kimmel\u2019s firing by ABC.<\/p>\n
Following discussions with Kimmel and his attorneys, Disney announced that the show would resume production on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The company gently chastised Kimmel in a statement, calling the aftermath of the Kirk killing an \u201cemotional moment for our country\u201d and saying \u201cwe felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Hopkins, one of the audience members, Kimmel \u201cwasn\u2019t angry or anything\u201d in his taped monologue. \u201cHe was very matter-of-fact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s episode will air on the East Coast at 11:35 p.m.<\/p>\n
About an hour before the broadcast, Trump weighed in on ABC\u2019s restoration of the show for the first time, commenting on Truth Social that \u201cthe White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled!\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump once again used his political platform to threaten ABC, saying of Kimmel, \u201cHe 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\u2019re going to test ABC out on this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s see how we do,\u201d Trump continued. \u201cLast time I went after them, they gave me $16 million dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative.\u201d<\/p>\n
Disney agreed to pay Trump about $16 million last December to settle a defamation lawsuit that he had lodged against ABC.<\/p>\n