Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television on Tuesday, following a week-long suspension of his talk show over comments he made about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
“I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because it’s important to me as a human and that is, you understand that it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man,” he said as his voice broke.
“I don’t think there’s anything funny about it.”
“Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what it was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make,” he added.
Kimmel said he understood his comments last week to some “felt either ill-timed or unclear or maybe both.” However, he criticized the ABC affiliates that took his show off the air. “That’s not legal. That’s not American. It’s unAmerican.”
On Monday, the Walt Disney Company confirmed that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would be returning to air on Tuesday after the show was abruptly yanked from the air on Sept. 17.
“Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country. It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive,” the company wrote in a statement obtained by Page Six.
“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.”
However, ABC’s affiliate stations, Nexstar Media Group and Sinclair Broadcast Group, refused to broadcast Kimmel’s show, with the latter announcing via X on Monday, “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.”
Last week, ABC confirmed in a statement to Page Six that Kimmel’s show would be taken off the air “indefinitely” after TV conglomerate Nexstar Media moved to pre-empt the show following the TV host’s recent comments on the slain activist’s death on a Utah campus last week.
According to Variety, Nexstar reached out to ABC Wednesday to threaten to pre-empt the show and assert that it “strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC-affiliated markets.”
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr had indicated he was looking into the possibility of an investigation into Kimmel’s on-air comments, which seemingly insinuated that the suspect in Kirk’s murder — 22-year-old Tyler Robinson of Utah — was a supporter of Trump’s MAGA political ideology.
“When you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel, it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible,” Carr said during an appearance on “The Benny Show” podcast on Wednesday, according to TMZ.
“There are avenues here for the FCC — so there are some ways in which I need to be a little bit careful because we could be called ultimately to be a judge on some of these claims that come up. But, I don’t think this is an isolated incident.”
Carr added, “They have license granted by us at the FCC and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest.”
President Trump — who is currently in the UK for a state visit — took to Truth Social the same day to celebrate the news. “Great News for America: The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” he wrote.
“Congratulations to ABC for finally having the courage to do what had to be done. Kimmel has ZERO talent, and worse ratings than even Colbert, if that’s possible. That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Their ratings are also horrible. Do it NBC!!! President DJT.”
Though reps for Kimmel did not respond to Page Six’s request for comment, a producer on the show told the Daily Mail that the talk show host, 57, is “absolutely f–king livid.”
“This is clearly the government overreaching,” they added. “There’s no such thing as free speech in America, if the government can lean on companies to stop any content they don’t like.”
Sources for the outlet added that Kimmel is “pissed” and is “actively looking for ways to get out of his contract.” Another said they’d never seen the comedian “this angry.”
Several A-list celebrities, including Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston, railed around Kimmel in a signed letter that referred to his suspension as “a dark moment for freedom of speech.”
During the Sept. 15 episode of the late-night talk show, Kimmel commented on aftermath of Kirk’s Sept. 10 shooting, saying, “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang trying to characterize this kid who killed Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”
Via social media, however, the father of two offered condolences to Kirk’s wife, Erika, and their two young children.
“Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human?” Kimmel wrote last Wednesday via Instagram. “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.”
Meanwhile, the media company for ABC’s largest affiliate group, Sinclair, issued a list of demands in order for Kimmel to return to his post on the late-night program. “Sinclair will not lift the suspension of ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ on our stations until formal discussions are held with ABC regarding the network’s commitment to professionalism and accountability,” read a press release on Wednesday.
“Sinclair also calls upon Mr. Kimmel to issue a direct apology to the Kirk family,” the release continued. “Furthermore, we ask Mr. Kimmel to make a meaningful personal donation to the Kirk Family and Turning Point USA.”
The release also announced that a “special in remembrance of Charlie Kirk” would air on Sept. 19, “during Jimmy Kimmel Live’s timeslot.”