<\/p>\n
The lights went up, the band struck its familiar chords, and Jimmy Kimmel reappeared at his desk. Not as a persecuted truth teller, but as a late night jester returning from a brief spell in the sin bin. For weeks, hysterical commentators had insisted that his absence signalled America\u2019s descent into some Trumpian gulag, proof that censorship now marched under Republican banners.<\/p>\n
Yet, here he was again<\/a>. Grinning gamely into the camera, dispensing the usual cocktail of laboured gags and deflection. \u201cAs I was saying before I was interrupted, we are preempting your regularly scheduled encore episode of Celebrity Family Feud to bring you this special report,\u201d he began, before offering the line that everyone expected: \u201cI\u2019m not sure who had the weirder 48 hours, me or the Ceo of Tylenol.\u201d<\/p>\n After a few damp squibs, Kimmel quickly gave way to tears. \u201cIt was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,\u201d Kimmel said of Charlie Kirk, his voice breaking. \u201cNor was it ever my intention to blame any specific group\u2026 that was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make.\u201d He admitted his words had been \u201cill-timed or unclear or maybe both\u201d and even praised Kirk\u2019s widow for showing \u201ca selfless act of grace\u2026 that touched me deeply.\u201d Noticeably absent from his script was, \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have said that the shooter is Maga, he wasn\u2019t, and I am sorry I told fibs.\u201d<\/p>\n It was stranger still to hear him thank the conservatives celebs who had rallied to his defence when he was taken off air. \u201cI never would have imagined, 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<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n But even without this concession, the spectacle itself was enough to puncture the myth. Martyrs don\u2019t usually reappear in the same primetime slot a week later, grinning into the camera. If this was the Right\u2019s attempt of \u201ccancel culture,\u201d it bore an uncanny resemblance to paid holiday leave. The only real overreach came from Brendan Carr of the FCC, who blustered that ABC could lose its licence for airing Kimmel \u2013<\/strong> a threat so clumsy it embarrassed even his own side. Ted Cruz dismissed it as \u201cdangerous as hell,\u201d likening Carr\u2019s tough talk to a mafioso shaking down a bar owner:\u201cNice bar you have here. It\u2019d be a shame if something happened to it.\u201d<\/p>\n